Heartbusters
by Jayfeattheris Awesome
Summary: AU. The Queen is taken. Taken by Della Tay, an assassin notorious for killing in strange, cruel ways. And this hit...will be her crown jewel. But not if Uldren has a say in things. Even if it means plunging into the darkest corner of space-time. Even if it means *shudders*...teaming with Silverhawk and Martin again. "PUT THAT DINOSAUR BACK WHEN YOU FOUND IT!"Who ya gonna call?
1. Heartbroken

**Warning: This is a sequel to _Fever_. Reading _15 Seconds_ is not necessary.**

 ***New quest step!***

* * *

 _ **Heartbroken**_

* * *

 ***Step One: Get knocked senseless by a freak explosion***

 _ **"Well, I bet is was fun seeing Uldren again, at least? Did he glare at you? Yup, he glared at you. Him and all his atomic-glaring glory. Same old Uldren. His hair grown back much yet?"**_ **\- Silverhawk's Ghost, ship comms to _T_ _imey-Wimey-03_ from _Wibbly-Wobbly-01_**

* * *

Variks was furious. He was so angry, he had left his tent, where he usually stayed most of the time, and stormed along the docks, so as to prevent himself from raging and breaking any of his possessions whilst in the grips of his anger. He had been too angry to even grab his staff on the way out.

Why was Variks angry, one might ask?

Because he was stupid. The answers and clues had been right in front of him the whole time; all the signs were there, all the tells. Yet he'd failed to see the truth right in front of him. He paced furiously in front of a wall of crates. A few passerby's and dock workers gave him curios looks, but gave him a wide breadth, knowing full well it was a bad idea to talk to a raging eliksni.

For the past few months, the House of Wolves, who knelt to the Queen of the Reef, had bee building back up again. OUTSIDE the Reef. A newer version of the house, headed by a member that had eluded capture? Or a new house entirely, stealing a name and banner that did not belong to them? He'd bee searching and searching, searching for a new Kell, a name, _someone_ to tag as in charge of the reborn House of Wolves. The fact the house had risen at all was a closely kept secret between himself, the royal family, and a few select commanders.

This was done solely to keep the fact the house lived again in the wild away from the former Wolves that lived here at the Reef; former Wolves, most of whom would kill to be free from this place. Not that he could possibly understand _why_ they would want to leave. Ever since betraying Skolas, and the end of the Reef Wars soon following, Variks had been enjoying a peace that(he often suspected) very few eliksni had experienced in the thousand-plus years since the Whirlwind.

He'd even found, to his immense joy, two lost members of his house. Crow probes had found them among the House of Winter, beaten, tossed about, and as reclusive as much he had been while in the House of Wolves. A Crow strike team had immediately been deployed, bringing an excited Variks along with them to negotiate with his two long-lost housemates.

The two eliksni had been extremely confused when the small Winter camp was attacked, awoken in full stealth gear firing silenced weapons from the trees and undergrowth, until all but the two scribes were dead. They had been even more shocked still when Variks had stepped from the jungles with Prince Uldren at his back, and told them of how he'd been living peacefully among the awoken for over a year. They had reluctantly agree to come with him, perhaps their cooperation only owing to the fact that they'd at last fond another member of their house, and by the end of the next month, they had both sworn loyalty to the Queen, accepting her as their new Kell.

 _That_ had been like docking vandal; it had taken him a very long while to convince them not to see _him_ as their Kell, him being the one that offered them shelter and taught them the ways of the Reef. But, eventually, after _much_ talking and persuading, they had agreed.

"Kell-Queen, my leader; am quite content with arrangement." he'd said in english. Back then, he'd tried to use it as often as he could, to try and get the hang of it and provide example to other eliksni struggling with the language. Now, it came as naturally as breathing, though he still has some trouble with proper grammar.

But the trials and troubles of learning to speak english were well worth the peace he'd found in his new home. At first, he'd expected to be treated the same way he'd been in House Wolves; scorned and taunted, having to stick to the shadows, always fearing the wrath of the Kell. But while the surrendered Wolves did treat him with scorn, there were no beatings or threats; they weren't allowed, lest they face the wrath of their new Kell.

The Queen had granted him a special place among her people, privileges that the surrendered Wolves weren't allowed due to trust issues. He was treated with respect, and she'd even had him supplied with the parts he needed to make his new arms; they'd been his fist priority, after Skolas was gone. Lower arms could grow back, but upper ones...well, those didn't, and they were needed for proper balance, connected too deeply with the shoulders and spine to grow back. The docking of an eliksni's upper arms was the ultimate mark of shame and humiliation.

Skolas had pinned him to the ground, in front of all the barons, after an assault on a small awoken mining town. One of the barons had caught him aiding in the escape of two awoken, a mother and child, leading them to a hole in a wall through with an eliksni couldn't fit to chase after them. Variks had seen the violence of the Silent Fang against the citizens of the Reef, and he'd seen some stolen footage from a rampage in a residential area of the Last City. It had made him fell sick, and driven him to aiding in their escape.

It was there, on the Wolfship, that Skolas took his upper arms and ripped them clean off, twisting them, breaking them, not even using a blade to cut them off. No, the Wolf Kell had been much crueler than that. He could still remember the agony of Skolas digging his claws in, ripping his flesh and breaking his bones. The mere thought of Skolas made him want to throw something or violently dismember the large, floppy-leaved plant that was nearby.

 _Skolas._ Fool _. All fight, no talk. He thought I was weak, useless; never did think about the "big picture", as the awoken would say._ What Skolas hadn't counted on, was that the fleeing mother and child had carried a message with them from the scribe; a message that would lead to Petra Venj eliminating the Silent Fang, and land Skolas in a cell with the Nine.

 _If only. Oh, if only._

That was why Variks was so angry. He'd finally figured it out, why the Wolves were rising again. He'd checked the cells of the Silent Fang members a thousand times. But last night, he'd opened one. He'd had a hunch, and it was, too his horror, correct; the Fang were gone. After opening the first one, he'd opened the rest of them. All empty. Someone had busted them out, and programed the cells to continue displaying a looped vital signs and video feed, giving the illusion that the Fang members were still there.

And since then, he'd been looking at every report, every Crow probe feed, anything to do with the Fallen. And what he'd found had both terrified him, and caused his current rage.

He'd found Skolas. Freed. Still in a stasis pod, but freed non-the-less, being carried and escorted along the Ishtar Cliffs by a group of Silent Fang members. the feed was from months ago, when the reborn house had begun to rise again. They'd been rebuilding all this time in secret around their old Kell. A Kell who probably wanted revenge. How many times had Skolas sent assassins after him in these past few months? That had been the first question in his mind when he'd figured it out. Variks had come to the conclusion that, while killing him would certainly be priority, he wouldn't do it for a while.

 _Because he wishes to stay in the shadows. Hidden, until it is time to come out and play with his food again._ Skolas was raising his house from the background, probably stealing members from other houses, or absorbing others entirely. A few minor houses had disappeared since the rising began; the House of Stone was now officially extinct, and he'd found mentions of a very tiny House, the House of Waters, disappearing as well.

Skolas was rising again; he had to tell the Queen immediately. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the discovery, but he had to get a grip on himself and report this as soon as possible; he couldn't afford to get lost in the shock and anger of it all, but taking a while to calm himself down had seemed like a good idea at the time. Approaching the "morning monster" of Queen Mara Sov with world-shattering news whilst in the throws of his own extreme, initial rage, he had deemed, would be a very, _very_ bad idea.

He took a deep rattling breath. _I must go tell her now. It would not do to keep this information from her for long._ He turned one last time, to leave the dock, when something caught his eyes. He did a double-take, making sure he was _actually_ seeing what he thought he was seeing.

 _I am not mad. But still..._ Certain that what he was seeing was real, he tried to pin exactly what about it unsettled him so and why. It was a guard, large, male, in full body armor and standing near a stack of cargo on the other side of the docks. He seemed to be watching Variks intensely through his helmet, and it seemed like, to him, though he wasn't too terribly good at reading humanoid body language, that the man was waiting for something.

 _Or someone._ Variks turned back tot he task at hand, trying to shed the unease that the man had cast on him.

But Variks wouldn't have to locate the Queen. In fact, he wouldn't have to take more than a few steps. For the second time in the space of a minute, he had to mentally check himself to make sure he wasn't loosing it completely. _Has the world gone mad, or have I?_

The Queen was striding towards him, guards and all, looking peeved and half-asleep. She was making a be-line for Variks, and he suddenly wondered if he'd done something wrong. _Perhaps it is about opening the cells? But I was checking them, surely she shall understand? Hi-jacking Prince Uldren's Crow feeds? I had good reason for that, as well; perhaps she shall overlook it?_

She marched up to him, her guards hanging back a little ways. She halted in front of him, and he gave a deep bow.

"Get up!" she snapped, arms crossed, obviously still in the middle of her morning crankiness. _This...is_ not _going to be very enjoyable._ "I don't have all day! Whatever it is, just say it. And next time; tell it to _Uldren_ first, not me, not at this time of day."

"How did you know I wished to speak with you?" he asked, confused. He'd only just figured it all out an hour ago, and he hadn't sent for her or told anyone yet. _Something is not right here..._

"What do you mean?" the Queen demanded, eyes narrowed. "You sent for me to meet you here half an hour ago."

"I did not request an audience. Why would I desire for us to meet he-"

A roar like a million thunderclaps consumed him, and he felt himself flying. He screamed as burning air blasted his face and many small, sharp, somethings embedded themselves in him, stinging where they pierced his _very_ light armor. He was cut short as his head made impact with something hard and solid, and he slumped to the floor, vision blurred and darkening. Ears ringing to the point he couldn't hear anything, he felt something, a crate perhaps, topple over onto him, and when he tried to lift himself to his feet, his arms gave away as his whole world spun around him.

He could see blurred figures through the darkness that was engulfing him, running, muted screaming, none of them seeming to notice him. Or maybe, they didn't care. _Where is Queen?_ He thought dizzily. He tried to lift his head, but his body wouldn't obey. He tried to keep his eyes open, to stay conscious, but he could barely see more than a few blurry, dark shapes rushing through a white haze of smoke.

He could still remember the smoke and fire, the slaughter of his House. The murder of his Kell, the explosion. Variks had been there. He'd been helpless to do anything about it, as the House of Judgement shattered and died all around him, forced into servitude of the other Houses or otherwise left for dead.

Now, he was forced to watch as his new Kell met a similar fate, as a dark shape wrestling a smaller one, in the same colors as the Queen, overpowered her. He tired once more to get up, but all he could manage was barely a twitch.

 _I am failing my Kell, once more._

With a low groan that came out more as a faint whimper, Variks sank deep into the blackness.

* * *

 **You all like, yes?**

 **Poor Variks :(. He really isn't having a good day, is he? This is his PoV on the events leading up to those final moments in _Fever_. I decided that Variks needed a little screen time in this fic. He had a few short scenes in _Fever_ , but I really plan on including him more in the future, he's such an interesting character.**

 **But yeah, I posted this because I'm feeling happy; I got Xbox Live Gold for my birthday, so I've finally been able to go on all the strikes and raids and whatnot, and I've even done some Prison of Elders and Crucible(I was decent Crucible with Nightstalker; then I tried with my Stormcaller and I was lost without my smoke bombs and Dusk Bow; I usually, in regular combat, prefer a sword/bow combo where I just go all "Legolas" on everything). I decided to leave you guys with a little treat before starting my summer writing binge(when I'm not playing Destiny, that is ;) ).**

 **It's been nearly a month since I posted the last chapter of _Fever_ ; perhaps the greatest landmark in my whole fanfic life. By posting _Heartbusters_ , or, at least, it's prologue, I see this as a way of securing a foothold in the continued legacy of this series. Also, people who weren't interested in _F_ _ever_ because of the summary might be brought in by the ominous summary of this fic, and, curious to know what's going on, they might go read _Fever_ , and leave a wonderful, magical REVIEW at the end of it!**

 **Anyway, you lot let me know how much you squealed and drooled when you saw this was up, and you rabid Judgment fans let me know how hard you cheered when you saw Variks. And someone...someone kind-hearted get our favorite eliksni a hug and some waffles; he really needs some. What do you guys think of the little bits of background I've given to him?**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this special little treat; a special shout out to Order and Chaos - Qui Iudicant, MaybeALittleBroken, Writer's Pen 77, and Shuriken16, for being my most faithful and frequent reviewers! **

**See you all at the end of summer!**

 **Cheers!^^**


	2. Hunt Them

***Step two: Hunt them.***

 _ **"Della Tay. We all know the name. She killed the last Queen; the last Warlock Vanguard, too, if memory serves. If you're asking if Prince Uldren is crazy enough to go after her...yes, he is."- Petra Venj**_

Uldren clutched the controls, jaw set, as he sped through open space, following the energy emissions of the kidnapper's ship. _I'm going to make you pay._ He promised silently for what had to be the hundredth time in the last few hours.

Della Tay was a notorious assassin, known for killing in strange and unique ways. Some said it was curiosity that drove her to surgically tear apart one mark, and lock another up in the Vault of Glass. Others said she was just a psychopath and the odd hits were just a hobby in her deluded mind. For 20 years, she and her small crew of pirates had been a plague upon the Reef and the Last City; she had almost started a war between them once, when him and Mara had been younger, her being twenty, him being 13.

Their mother had been the victim. Killed to make it look like a Titan's fist had struck the blow, and left in the wilderness outside the City. If not for their father, the war might have happened; he had found a flaw in Della's work, the smallest of inconsistencies within the design of the torn Titan mark she had been found with. This had lead to the discovery of a vendor known for making fake Marks, who then led them to the discovery of a pirate, which, in coordination with the Last City on a massive deception effort, led to the capture of one of her crew.

This was what led to the discovery of Della Tay, only 16, feared almost as much as Taniks the Scarred(in fact, rumor had it that they were constantly attempting to kill each other, though, as of yet, neither had succeeded). Some said she secretly worked for the Nine, doing their dirtiest work, and others, who had been on the inside, said that she didn't do bounties for anyone, contrary to popular belief; she merely killed who she wanted, when she wanted.

Whatever Tay had planned for Mara, be it to start a war or commit the murder of a lifetime, he wasn't going to let her succeed. There was too much she had already taken from him; he wasn't going to let her take any more.

He'd been following her for three hours now. They were nearing Mars, and he noticed with a chill that Tay's ship was gradually slowing down as they got nearer. He slowed the Nighthawk down as well, wanting to keep his distance. He couldn't let Tay know he was here, if he was to pull off his rescue mission successfully. His head still throbbed from when Tay had hit him back at the docks, and he was beginning to think he might have a minor concussion, thanks to the savory fact that his ears were still ringing and spots still occasionally danced in his vision.

He still had yet to think of what said rescue mission would involve, but he hoped his head would clear up in time for him to work properly. He had been following Tay quietly, and his initial plan was to grab Mara when she was put back out in the open, where he wouldn't have to fight an entire ship full of pirates just to get to her. It would just be Mara, a guard or two, and, most likely, Tay herself.

Uldren could handle the guards. Even with a concussion. And maybe he could distract Tay long enough for his sister to escape, but the more and more he thought about it, all the possible scenarios, they all ended very badly for him, personally. Most of the scenes that played out in his head of the most likely successful courses of action ended with his death, and with each new plan of attack that came into his head, there came a different way for him to die.

A knot of dread had tied itself in his stomach, but he only gripped the controls harder upon accepting that he wasn't going to get out of this alive; whether he succeeded or failed, he would most likely die in the process. He hoped he succeeded.

 _At least then, it will be worth it…_

A patchy whitenoise came through his comms. He ignored it. _It's probably just some of Tay's pirates._

Then the signal cleared up somewhat, and what he heard…well, he wasn't sure whether to feel elated, irritated, or confused at this point.

"Un..dentified…Crow…vessel, state…our bearing…intent." Uldren did a sort of double take, before adjusting his comm sensors. Hearing true, the message repeated itself, now clear. "I repeat, unidentified Crow vessel, state your bearing and intent. Please respond."

Uldren fumbled with the comms unit somewhat, his hands shaking for some reason. He gathered himself with a quick, deep breath before speaking strongly into the comms.

"This is Nighthawk-02, my bearing is Mars, and I intend to blast anyone who gets in my way." He answered. Perhaps not the most friendly approach; no doubt, Mara would have chided him for such a threat, but he was in a rush, was having a long day, had a minor concussion, and he hadn't even had breakfast yet.

"Nighthawk-02, we've been informed of a situation at the Reef, involving Della Tay and the Queen." Came the same male voice, though with a touch of indignation in it. "My brother and I are the only Guardians around for an hour's flight; we understand that you might be tracking the same pirates we are. We've been ordered to assist in any rescue attempts for the Queen in any way we can. You need a couple of extra guns?"

Uldren mulled this news over in his head. If they truly were the only Guardians for some time around, if he turned this offer down, he'd be willfully heading into a suicide mission. With two more people on his side…he played the scenes over again in his head. Plenty still resulted in him dying, all of them dying, Mara dying, him and his sister barely making their escape as the Guardians died behind them…

But the chances of getting out alive-at least, for him and Mara, anyway-had greatly escalated. _I_ really _don't want to work with guardians again…_

A month ago, the Fallen had introduced a deadly disease to both the Last City and the Reef. When his sister fell ill with the disease, he had, desperate to save her, personally volunteered to oversee the mission for the cure, partaking in the hunt and fighting alongside whichever Guardians were chosen for the mission.

As it had so happened, those Guardians had been a couple of bumbling lunatics. One of them had been a very short Huntress with a horrifically bright red fashion statement on top of her head, and the other had been a cowardly Warlock who turned into a psychopath the moment you put true power into his hands.

During that mission, he'd been shot at by Fallen, fallen from incredible heights twice(once of which was the result of getting blow up by a volcanic vent), crashed and kicked off a Sparrow three times, cut, shot, exposed to hazardous volcanic fumes, deprived of sleep, water, and food for nearly three days straight, and even had begun to come down with the disease before the cure was finally acquired and distributed.

And the cure hadn't even been retrieved! It had been branded into the exposed wrist of the Huntress, Silverhawk, when she attempted to stop the canister the equation was carved on from falling into a volcanic fissure. The mission had been a plain and simple failure; the fact that anyone was alive today was a bit of a fiasco.

After his first experience in directly working with Guardians in the field, he'd known that he never wanted to repeat the process.

Ever.

 _But it doesn't look like I've got much of a choice, at this point. Either I accept their help, and maybe walk away from this with both mine and Mara's lives' intact, or I heroically charge in and sacrifice myself on the slim chance that she can get away before Tay re-organizes._

He decided that he liked option number one better. Sighing, he opened the comms.

"This is Uldren Sov; stick to my trajectory… and… try not to blow up her ship, make fart sounds, insult her mother in Klingon, or get me thrown off a hundred-story building, please." He sighed, trying to prevent another Silverhawk mission before it happened. There was a few moments of silence from the comms, and then;

"Yup. He's worked with Silverhawk, alright."

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

They crept up on Mars, and Uldren got his first look at the ships of his new allies, whom had been following some distance behind him during their approach. They were in matching Kestral-class ships of a model he didn't know off the top of his head.

They had maintained radio silence ever since their initial meeting, so he didn't even know their names yet; just that they were brothers. Tay's ship had landed, eerily enough, neigh on smack-dab in the middle of the Cabal Exclusion Zone. Nobody got through the Exclusion Zone.

"I take you two have seen the problem with the location of this hit?" He asked over the comms, daring to break silence.

"The Exclusion Zone's not a problem, so long as you've got a bit of Hunter flair. I know a Hunter who broke through it just a day ago with almost zero problems." Came one of the voices.

"And exactly how far did he get before he had to turn back?" Uldren scoffed.

" _She_ penetrated the heart of their operation. And killed a Primus. And made the Cabal really, really angry." the man corrected. Uldren gave a sniff of contempt. _Well, why couldn't I have gotten stuck with_ her _then?_

"Fine then. How, oh great and powerful Guardian, did she get through?" he requested testily. He wasn't feeling too friendly, his head still hurt, and things were looking more and more dangerous by the second.

"She just...charged through, I think. On her sparrow. They couldn't touch her." _She_ sounds _like Silverhawk!_ That option wouldn't cut it for him. The last time he'd ridden a sparrow, he'd been blow about a hundred feet into the air by a volcanic vent. Other than heights, sparrows were the things he was most...uncomfortable with. His first ride on one had been a mid-air mount whilst falling from the top of about a thousand-story collapsing building.

He wasn't afraid, by all accounts! Sparrows and heights just... didn't sit well with him, that was all. It was an understandable discomfort, of course, given his past expiriances with them, wasn't it?

Wasn't it?

I'm thinking about this way too much. Shakeing any and all unease from his voice, he responded the the guardian's suggestion professionally.

"There is no way in all the nine planets that you're going to get me on one of those damn deathtraps you call vehicles." he told them in a low, angry voice, trying not to clench the controls so hard as he did so. He'd been doing that the whole trip there, and if he wasn't careful, it could, and would, lead to a dangerous stiffness in his hands that he couldn't afford to have.

He needed to relax, and loosen up his fighting muscles so he would be prepared for the thrall spit storm that he was about to face. He took a deep breath as one of the brothers continued their conversation, leaning back in the pilot seat and trying to relax. He needed to be calm. He needed to fight, for Mara's sake. He couldn't afford to not be at his best.

He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. He'd spent all night giving his detailed report on the mission for the cure. In his head, he swore as he realized how tired he actually was.

"Erm... o...kay, then? I guess...? We could always make like Tay, drop in the middle of the Zone, and then try to make it to her on foot?"

"Fine." Uldren shrugged, though he was not fine with it at all. He wasn't fine with anything, and he wouldn't be until his sister was safe.

That, the the prospect of navigateing the martian surface made him want to groan like a child; he hated mars! _But I hate sparrows more..._

"My ghost has found a suitable landing zone, just a mile out from Tay's position. If we fly in low, we might be able to stay off her radar. Alf, Uldren, I'm sending you both the coordinates now." the man informed them. _Alf? Must be the name of his brother. Doesn't sound human; perhaps they're awoken?_

He looked down at the display where the new information had appeared, and felt something in his gut drop. That's... suspiciously close to... He shivered, trying to shake of the dread that had settled over him like a dark cloud. He had a horrible feeling, that was roughly a mile within reach of...that place.

He hoped, oh, he hoped above hope, that Tay wasn't taking Mara there. He set his jaw again, and sat back as they approached the atmosphere. _I'm comeing Mara. I'm comeing to get you..._

* * *

 **Yup. that's right, I broke protocol and updated before school. *whispers* Don't tell Amberstar***

 **I just got really bored. Summer is supposed to be when everyone is massivly updateing but eveyone and everything is just...bleh. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, I bet, so I decided to add a pleasant suprise to the "bleh" that seems to be preceding the RoI release. The fully revamped Fever Is something you can look forwards to when the school year does begin again, though, as well as the rest of the Heartbusters chapters I've been writing.**

 **Also, a few things in Fever have been updated, namely the fact that Silverhawk and Martin's ghosts now have names; Westley and Wheatly, respectivly. I really should start working on my other, non-Destiny-related fics, though; that's like, literally all I've written for all summer.**

 **And WOW, I should go away more often, if it results in ten reveiws for one chapter**

 **Jsm1978: I think I replied to this in PM, but whatever. The tone'll rise to new hieghts in chapter seven.**

 **fierywarlock999: Request granted.**

 **Writters Pen 77: Good.**

 **Homicidle Iguanas 2096: It appears I have a hyperactive new fan*gives you more caffien, grins evilly your roommate***

 **Amberstar: Dude, it's enough that you stuffed whipcream under my pillow; git off mah lawn!**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: *Backs away fearfully* Amberstar made me do it! *points***

 **This Is Sarcasm: Virtual fist-bump returned. Variks thanks you for the junk food.**

 **TacoCat Backward: Glad you do!**

 **Zach: *Grins broadly* You know what's funny? Amberstar and I had a bet on what Alderpaw's full name would be. I guessed Alderheart, and she guessed Alderpelt. I'm ten dollars richer.**

 **Order and Chaos: Feel free to use the House name; I just wrote down a random word. HoW will be starting in the side adventure after this.**

 **I've spent a lot of my summer hammering out the plot to this series, and I beleive I finally have an official game plan.**

 **There will be three main fics, in Uldren's main PoV; Fever, Heartbusters, and the Taken King fic that I know the name of but will not release(for suspenseful perposes). Then, there will three fics where the side characters get a grab at the spotlight; 15 Seconds, Wolfsbane, and Twilight, my all-original plot culminateing with Twilight.**

 **There will also be three plots; the plot of the game, which Uldren deals with, the Certech plot, which Fever and 15 Seconds deals with, and the *REDACTED* plot, which is hinted at in Heartbusters, 15 Seconds, and Wolfsbane, and ends with Twilight.**

 **Whew, I just kind of needed to see this game plan on paper so I can keep track of it!**

 **Next Time: We meet some legends, and Uldren hates mars.**

 **Cheers!^^**


	3. Get Them

**Step three: Get them.**

 **"This is Petra Venj, calling any and all scouts to immediately locate Crow vessel Nighthawk-02. The Queen has been taken, I repeat; the Queen has been taken and the Prince had gone after her, his ship is unresponsive. If any Guardians can hear this, get word to the Tower; Della Tay has the Queen. I repeat…Della Tay… damn it! Someone get those doors open! How long before Variks wakes up?!"—Emergency Transmission, Reef Royal City, approximately 09:10AM Reef Time.**

Uldren climbed out of his ship, and dropped to the dusty ground, the sand immediately shifting under his feet. It was roughly halfway through the morning at this small patch of sand near Meridian Bay. Deimos hung low in the sky far above, while Phobos was barely visible low on the horizon, eerily close to the surface. Phobos was one of the things he hated most about mars.

Nobody could get on the thing, and it's close proximity to the surface, despite any and all rationality, made him constantly afraid this thing was going to drop right out of the sky and hit the planet. It was a stupid notion; Phobos had been like this since the collapse, and it had yet to fall. Why would it fall while he was on mars?

Maybe it was just his experience with cruel irony and bad luck talking whenever he had thoughts like that. _Like how an ancient labratory can stay standing for hundreds of years, and then I come along and it all comes crashing down..._

The ships of his new companions were nearby, and as the ramps lowered, he was met with the sight of two figures of identical height climbing down to meet him. He felt a flash of jealosy at the sight of the helmets they wore, thinking about how stuffy the air was down here, and the heat that pounded at his face.

 _No matter; the air is breathable, lack of a helmet isn't going to kill me._

It would have been nice, yes; but helmets were a luxury in this case, not a necessity. He finished securing his hand cannon in it's holster, and he felt his scout rifle shift where it was strapped to his back. His headache was finally starting to fade, though he had the feeling it could start back up again if he spent too long in this heat.

 _It'll be worth it._

The two brothers strode up to him, and he got a better look at them. One of them was a titan, in heavy gear not dissimilar to field plating, and the other was a hunter decked out in the latest Sinaa gear, the Titan donning a short, brown mark with a teal pattern, and the Hunter having a waist-length cloak of similar design.

Both were adorned in dark shades of primarily teal and russet, with bits and peices of brown mixed in as well. Both were roughly the same height; slightly taller than Uldren, which made him slightly more wary of them. He didn't like being lower; while he didn't like heights, there was no arguing their advantage in the field. Being shorter than a partner-in-arms always unsettled him for some reason.

Both of them had auto rifles strapped to their backs, the Hunter had a sidearm of some kind holstered at his left waist, and the Titan had an ornate shotgun in his hands.

"My name is Ethan Price." The titan informed him, holding out one hand to shake Uldren's. He didn't return the gesture, and Ethan lowered his hand before motioning to his brother, sounding a little awkward. "This is my twin, Alfie, though he prefers to be called Alf."

"Alright." Uldren said, mentally fileing their names away for later and taking note of just exactly who they were. He tried to keep his face from showing his suprise, to remain as un-impressed as possible.

But that was awfully hard to do when you were talking to the Guardians who killed Crota.

 _Price brothers. Everybody knows who they are. I'm fighting with the_ Price brothers _!_ Mara's safe return to the Reef felt that much more possible. Crota had been killed roughly a year ago, and it had been a relief to the whole system to hear that the tyranical psuedo-god was dead. He'd lost a lot of Crows to that monster and his followers, both robo scouts and awoken.

The story went that the brothers had gone down into the dark, guided by the lone surviver of a fireteam that had attempted the very same thing; except, that team failed. The brothers, having set out to avenge the Warlock member of their now two-man fireteam, had charged the shadowed depths, and come out alive... with Crota's head as a trophy.

Despite the escalated chances of success, Uldren couldn't feel better; not until he physically saw to it that his sister was safe. Price twins or no, he still didn't trust these strange Guardians. He didn't know how they operated. At least if it was Silverhawk and Martin, he would know what to expe-

 _NO! If it_ were _Silverhawk and Martin, they would get Mara killed!_ He suppressed a shudder at that the thought that he had, for even one second, wanted it to be Subject Zero and her cowardly partner here with him instead of the two living legends that stood before him.

Ethan's Ghost materialized beside it's owner, it's shell a dark purple with spikes coming out of where it's front shell nodes met. It's shell parted, and blue light came from it's eye as it scanned Uldren. He gave a start backwards.

"What are you doing?" he asked wearily.

"Well, If you would hold still for a few minutes, I would isolate your DNA patterns, and then I would work with Alf's ghost to do a long-rang scan for similar markers, thus locating your sister, but, ahh, well, you keep moving around, and I can't get a lock on you so we might as well forget about it!" the ghost snarked back in a feminine voice. It reminded him of Silverhawk, and his hands twitched involuntarily as he, by instinct, imagined himself strangling something.

Instead vying to glare at the ghost, he allowed her to continue to scan him. _If this works... we'll know exactly where Mara is._ Finding Tay's ship wouldn't be no trouble; finding where Mara was, or where she'd been taken to, that's what they needed to know. They knew where Tay had landed; now, all they needed to do was find his sister.

 _Maybe... could I find her if I focus hard enough?_ As the ghost continued her scan, he mentally reached out, trying to find that flicker, trying to connect with his sister. _I don't need this ghost's help..._ The power of awoken royalty was one he rarely used; all that space-y magical stuff was Mara's thing, not his. He preferred a more physical approach to his problems.

Mainly, shooting them.

But his attempt to find his sister independently failed; he couldn't sense her, not even faintly. Either the brothers didn't notice his eyes had been glowing brighter than normal, or they couldn't tell because of the sun; Ethan was running a cloth over the barrel of his shotgun, and Alf was preping his sidearm. _Dumb humans._ He thought dizzily. The heat pounded at him on the outside, but as he stopped tapping into his powers, it felt like ice filled his blood, and he suppressed a shiver, feeling slightly dizzy. His headache seemed to rebound, like a metal spike being driven into his head.

"Hmmm. That's odd. I'm picking up some really strange brain activity." the ghost commented, pausing in her scans. He glared at her.

"You don't know anything about awoken royalty, do you?" he sneered, mentally groaning in pain as the borderline migrane pounded at the inside of his skull. She shifted her shell, the top front node lowering in a glare.

 _If I can't sense her... I've...I've always been able to sense her..._ It had been years since he'd last used his powers, though. Perhaps he was just a little rusty? He'd never had the advanced mental training that Mara had had. _What if she's dead? Could that be why I can't sense her?_ The thought sent a wild lurch of fear pounding through him. Mara couldn't be dead; she just couldn't!

"There! Ethan, I'm done." the ghost announced after about a minute of awkward silence, shell spinning as she turned to face her Guardian. " Groot, are you getting this?"

A gray-green Ghost materialized next to Alf's head.

"I am Groot." he said in a deep voice.

"I surmised this." Uldren rolled his eyes.

"His vocal processors got stuck in a loop when he took a hit during the battle with Crota." Ethan's ghost informed him, spinning to face him.

"Ever since then, his vocabulary has been limited to 'I', and 'am', and 'Groot'. Exclusivly in that order." Alf added. "That's the reason I named him Groot."

"I am Groot!"

"We're still trying to fix it." his Guardian said. "Why did we have to watch _that_ movie before the battle?"

Uldren shook his head, deciding that he really didn't care what it was the Hunter was talking about, and that it didn't really matter how his ghost's voice got stuck; just that the robot got the job done. He found he had the inability to care about such things, as his headache seemed to occupy every minor part of his reality at this moment.

"Tay's ship is about an hour north from here on foot, if we keep a good pace." Ethan said, pointing his shotgun north. Uldren nodded, and then glanced at the two Ghosts, where in some sort of a trance with each other as they scanned.

"Lets get going." he said, turning north as Alf holstered his sidearm. He squinted as the sun glared hard on the right side of his face. In the distance, he could make out a large Cabal base of some sort, and his stomach lurched. Were they taking Mara there, set out like a treat for a stray animal, a "gift" for the cabal to gloat over.

 _Maybe they're the ones who hired Tay!_ If they were... that would be extrememly bad news. Tay had been on the radar for twenty years, but she had never done a contract for the darkness before; not that they knew of. If she had started working for the cabal...

The consequences of such an alliance would not be good. _This could be much more than a rescue mission. This could be where we either kill Tay... or face a world where the cabal have the deadliest assasin in the system working for them._

He strafed and slid down the dune that lead up the rocky, cliff-like surface they had landed on, wincing as he felt sand enter his boots. Another reason he hated mars. Sand here, sand there, sand freaking everywhere! He swore the sand was makeing his migrane worse! And the thought of Tay working for the darkness was not helping.

He stumbled slightly as he met the flatter sand, and turned to watch as the twins skid in beside him, Alf easeing into the transfer gracefully, while his brother lost his balance on the way down, and ended up tumbling down to meet them, landing on his face with his shotgun hitting him on the head before landing beside him.

"Very graceful brother; very elegant indeed." Alf congradulated sarcastically, clapping slowly. An idea popped into Uldren's acheing head. He looked up at the two Ghosts, who had zoomed down to meet them.

"Are you two finished with your scan?" he inquired.

"I am Groot."

"Yes. The Queen is, in fact, roughly a mile out from here. I can barely pick up a reading, though, I can't tell her posistion exactly." Ethan's Ghost said at the same time. At least she's alive, then. That brought very little releif, and it didn't explain why he couldn't sense her.

"Can you share those scans with a third device?" he asked. If his plan would work, he could keep an eye on Mara and make sure she was safe before they got there. Perhaps he could even mess with Tay a bit, delay whatever it was she was planning.

"Perhaps. It depends on what kind of a device it is. Why?" there was wariness mixed in with her curiosity, and both the Guardians and Groot looked at him. _I suppose I had better satiate their curiosity before they can no longer control themselves._

Uldren activated the controler on his right wrist, a screen that displayed from a metal band imbeded into the cuff of his gauntlet. It was a new feature that had come with Nighthawk the second, and so far, he was enjoying it. With a few taps, he summoned up the device he'd been talking about.

The other four looked at him expectantly as he kept his arm out. Groot looked around.

"I am Groot?"

He gave a startled yell as a pair of night-black talons swiped at him rudely, and the glossy-feathered robot landed on Uldren's forearm.

"Yes, master?" it inquired emotionlessly.

"Oh, a Crow!" Ethan's shost exclaimed, floating a little closer to inspect their new comerade, to which his 'bird' responded by glaring at her.

"That is one realistic bird you've got there." Ethan exclaimed with a whistle.

"They're designed to be inconspicous. I always keep one in storage on my ship if I ever need it" he replied. To Alf, he added, "And if your ghosts can share the signal, I can use him to find Mara, and pin down her location before we arrive."

The Hunter noded. "That sounds like a fair idea. I like it. Groot? Bessy?"

"I am Groot!"

"I can make it work! It's an ingenius plan, by the way." 'Bessy' said at the same time, as Uldren had to bite back a snicker. He raise an eyebrow in Ethan's direction.

"My stepsister. Had a nasty temper." The Titan said simply. To this, Bessy, whirled around with an angry bleep and spin of her back shell.

"Excuse me!?" her Guardian raised both his hands innocently, before bending down to pick up his gun. Bessy turned back to Uldren and his Crow.

"Okay, I'm just going to have to scan you, mister...uhhhh...?"

"I have no name."

"Okay, I'll just call you 'Robert' then. Just hold still for a few moments." her shell parted, and the newly-named 'Robert' stood bolt upright as blue light enveloped him. His feathers puffed indignantly, and he glared at her as if he were being violated in some way.

When Bessy was done, Uldren adressed his shadowy scout.

"Fly north of here. Locate the vessle belonging to Della Tay, and use the scanning tools given to you by that ghost to locate my sister. Delay her assasination at any cost, and when you find her, use your link to the ghosts to send them feed from your discovery. Understood?" he ordered.

"Yes, master."

"Then fly."

The jet black robotic avian spread it's wings and lifted into the martian sky, taking off off north, it's weight leaving Uldren's arm as it pushed off with it's talons. He watched as its black figure was lost to the bright martian sky, and took a deep breath of hot, dry air as he lowered his arm. _I really should have brought some water from my ship._ But it was too late now; getting back up the hill would be too much of a hassle, and they would lose precious time doing so. Perhaps one of the twins had brought provisions with them?

He shook his head. What was he doing, jealos for water when his sister may never drink again if he wasted time longing for what was not possible at the moment?

"Let's go. We don't have all day." _We have only one hour. One hour until I might see my sister again. One hour during which Tay could be doing anything to her._ She could be skinning Mara alive for all he knew.

And with this thought, came every other thought, of all the horrific things Della Tay could be doing to his sister. The worrying, the heat, and his attempt at telepathic comunication, all combined with sleep depravation and the stress of the past few hours, made his migrane near unbearable.

They said Della Tay never killed the same way twice. Would she leave Mara out as food for the cabal, like he most thought? That was the least horrific thing he could think of. Would she throw her off the top of the largest vex spire she could find? Would she throw her into the middle of a vex conflux, or force her down into Freehold, where she could be killed by crossfire between the vex and cabal at any moment? Stranded in the desert and left to starve to death?

Each thought made his insides twist, made him want to wail outloud about how unfair it was that they couldn't have landed just a bit closer. If he squinted, and covered his eyes with his hand, he could just make out the black dot of his crow, getting farther and farther away as Uldren and the twins trudged along the dunes.

 _I'm coming, Mara. I'm coming to get you back._ How many times had he made this silent promise already? Not enough, he decided.

 _I'm coming._

* * *

 **RIP legacy players.**

 **Servers are down for separation, all those who would, at this moment, be kicking some thrall butt, are instead reading about the game they cannot curently play, whilst they wait anxiously for news from the bungie reveal conference thingy.**

 **I thought, to comfrot us all, I'd drop a little treat. But, for realsies this time; no more updates till school starts, and things definitely WILL be slower this year, as I'm doing a co-op Wings of Fire fanfiction with Fatespeaker, and The Riseing Wind desparately needs some new content because it's my most popular fic(if you like dragons and Middle Earth, go read).**

 **I also must wrtie for All The Strange, Strange Creatures(yes, that is an allusion to the Doctor Who soundtrack of the same name), because I I don't let loose a chapter for an AoS fic, the day season fours premiers...I'll be forever shamed.**

 **And MAN! The Forged in Fire ViDoc... I think that cinematic, with Saladin and that other titan, will be the cinematic that breaks us. Flaming armor! ^^**

 **fierywarlock999: And now, to your further excitement...**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: Luckily for him, I know of a nice little island called Kiribati. My condolances for your bad hand, BTW.**

 **Writer's Pen77: I prefer the Narnia battle call.**

 **Order and Chaos: Uldren and Mara really only have each other, where family is concerned. That being said, the subject of their father will be addressed at some point. He plays a rather important role, in what appears to be a series of unconnected events. As for Tay; she's outright insane, we'll see that in next chapter. The death of Uldren and Mara's mother? Well, you've seen written the things Tay has done; simulating the effect of Striker's blow would seem as easy as cake. She probably dropped an electrified cylinder weight on her from a height; wielding the hitting end in the shape of an armored fist is, again, minimal prepparation in comparison to some of the other things this character had done. In my head, the Titan does have Fourth Horsman (just because it looks pretty), but Uldren won't find it too interesting. And yes, I realise that Titans are shamefully underrepresented in this series, between Silverhawk, Andal, Tevis, Cayde, and Martin, but we will meat two new titan side characters at some point in 15 Seconds, and in Wolfsbane we're set to say "hi" to a warlock who is also the first awoken Guardian we'll be working with in the series. Personally...I can't wait to see how many people ship her with Uldren, purely because they hate each other. Heck, this is a long reply.**

 **All that being said, I'm off to drool over the flameing armor again, and freak out. I pre-ordered RoI yesterday, and I keep catching myself doing a little jig. I appologise for any undiscovered blatant and obvious spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors that slipped through my feverant, multiple proofreads. The program I'm useing has no spell check, and I haven't time right now to use the FFN doc manager to check them. Just bear with me, I'll get to them tomarrow, or at least I'll try.**

 **Next Time: WoF fans, say "hello" to Queen Scarlet's awoken alter ego. Things start to get serious, and we get a teaser to an event in 15 Seconds.**

 **Cheers!^^**


	4. Get Lost

**Step 4: Get Lost**

 **"Hey, Tev, Silverhawk was looking for you. What? No, no she didn't find out it was you who dyed her cloak pink-WHOA, HOLD ON: THAT WAS YOU!? SILVERHAWK'S GOING TO EAT YOU FOR BREAKFAST WHEN SHE FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS!"- Cayde-6 to Tevis Larsen, Private comm line Zed-90**

* * *

Mara Sov, Queen of the awoken, didn't scare easily. It took something very major to shake her out of her royal shell and morph her into just a normal person. Standing in the aftermath of Twilight Gap, wanting to see the damage for herself, had been one of the hardest things for her to see.

Seeing the last bastion of humanity in ruins, dead Guardians and civilians everywhere, rubble and fire the only landscape for miles. She hadn't known it then, but it was the earthly embodiment of what the Reef would look like by the time her war ended. The worst thing she'd seen since then was Uldren crumpling to a heap right in front of her, gasping for breath with a knife in his throat.

She was glad to say she'd punch the man who'd done it, too. Her brother had barely pulled through, flatlined multiple times, and had been kept on medical leave for several months(one of which had been on her own order, which he had not been happy about at all). The very sight of the scar on his neck made her insides squirm, and made her want to throw something.

This...was nothing like that.

Strangley, she didn't feel at all paniced or afraid like most people would. Her initial rage, her struggles against her captors had ceased as a death-like calm overtook her. She had recognized Della Tay's seal. Nobody lived once Tay decided to kill them. Nobody... not even her.

Her confusion, brought on by Variks' behavior, had quickly been replaced by pain as the explosion sent her flying. Then came the panic, as she was grabbed and dragged off to who-knows-where. There had been an initial, faint spark of hope when Uldren appeared out of the dust, only to be replaced by panic and dread once more as he was struck from behind by non other than Della Tay herself.

For a few, horrible moments, she'd thought Tay was going to kill him, in his dazed state. That she would finish what the assassin from three years ago had started. But no, her brother lived.

 _"Normally, I would kill you, too. But my bounty only calls for one head this time."_

She'd barely heard those words. But she'd heard them nonetheless. Stories about Tay's possible allegiances ranged from "she works for the Nine", clear to "she works for the Darkness, outright". Whomever Tay worked for, killing her was in the best interest to whomever had hired her.

"You should be proud." Tay seemed to pur as they sat together on the hovering transport vehicle that had driven them from her ship. Though Mara didn't know it, its design was similar to a flatbed truck. "Your death will spark a thousand wars. And it will be absolutely thrilling, too!"

Mara said nothing, keeping her back straight and her head held high, refusing to look at Tay, and the very image of benevolence. Her hands were bound tight, and the same, burly guard who had captured her earlier sat at her left side. Around her neck was some sort of collar that blocked her from reaching out, kept her from using the powers that most of the royal family was gifted with.

The sun flashed in her eyes constantly, and the heat pounded at her, the only relief available being the breeze that their movement in the vehicle caused. Her throat felt dry, and all she wished she could have was a little water.

"I realized that, I went about it the wrong way twenty years ago, with your mother." Mara's fists clenched, but other than that, yielded no reaction. "You see, you nearly delared war, but you were patient enough for your father to follow his leads. You treated him, allowed him to do as he pleased in order to placate him in his grief. I never did apologize, did I? I hear her death changed the Prince immensely."

 _Do not react. Do not give her the pleasure._ It had. Oh, it _had_ changed Uldren. In the space of a few hours, gone was the young teenager who dreamed and had never held a gun before. Gone was a child filled with hope, and in his place stood, faster than they eye could blink, a man who wanted nothing more or less than bloody revenge. Uldren had screamed and cried for days. Uldren suddenly wanted to become a Crow, and to train the elite force for military use. Uldren was soon the dead-eye of the Reef.

Sometimes she caught glimpses of the old Uldren. But that brother was gone, replaced by the man who would surely come at Tay with renewed vengeance once Mara was dead.

"Now, your brother is far less patient. I hear there's never been a sole male ruler on you throne before? As I said, you should be proud. You death will make history. History, and those thousand wars I mentioned. As I said, you brother is a far less patient a man, it will be some much easier for my clients to get what they want with him on the throne."

"And what is it your clients want, Della Tay?" The Queen spoke for the first time since being captured. Tay sat up, and lent down so that she and Mara were almost nose-to-nose.

Contrary to popular belief, Reef pirates didn't dress trashy. No. Every centimeter of exposed skin was a centimeter through which a needle could slip to inject poison. Tay was dressed to survive. Layers of hard leather and wire weave, with a sidearm strapped to both legs, knives on her arms, macabre jewelry hanging from around her neck.

Her face itself was beautiful, sleek and untarnished. Her eyes were large, and glowed a soft, brownish-amber color. Her brown hair was tied back into a bun stuck through with what might have been thin shards of moon-white bone, and her every feature was perfect in every way. From a string around her neck, dangled teeth. No, not animal teeth. No. Human and awoken teeth. One for each of her twenty years of victims. There were two of these strings, and alongside the teeth, were small scraps of metal, with names on them.

Names, followed by a dash and a number. The wrist identifications of all the exos she had murdered, since they didn't have teeth.

Della Tay was a monster, to her core. She smiled at Mara Sov with perfect teeth, white and shining like the bones in her hair.

"War." she answered. "Plain and simple. You brother is much more likely to go to war with the Last City than you are. But there is one other matter I must question you about, before we reach our destination."

Tay turned suddenly serious, a frown creasing her pretty features. Mara resolved not to relent, no matter what it was that the assassin wanted. Whatever awoken secret she was hoping to gain, the Queen would take it to her soon-to-be grave.

"My Queen...what do you know of Ashraven?"

* * *

"How do you two know Silverhawk, anyway?" Uldren inquired as they navigated a winding path between dunes. If he was going to travel with these people, he might as well do some investigating.

Uldren Sov hated Heather 'Silverhawk' Chancellor, but ever since finding out about her deathtouch, and reading the report of the Crow who had pieced together Silverhawk's past with Certech, he'd found the need to complete Himalay's work. The Crow, before she had died of the disease, had been determined to find out what had happened to the twelve-year-old girl that Certech had tortured and changed atom-by-atom.

Asking Silverhawk outright was out of the question. He never wanted to see her unbearable face again. But he felt he owed a duty to his dead Crow to find out what happened after Silverhawk had died. He knew that she had met Martin Anton at some point, and that they had been "raised together", but beyond that, his knowledge was limited.

"Oh, we did the exposition where she decided to become a Hunter." Ethan said, slipping a little on a patch of sand. "She was pulled out half way through because her brother was rushed to the infirmary with some kind of illness. It's hard to forget...someone that looked like her."

"If your speaking of her being half awoken, it is safe to say so." Uldren muttered. At the Titan and Hunter's starts of surprise, he added, "She dropped her glasses during the mission for the cure."

Ethan shook his head, and then continued.

"We saw her training once, too, with some practice dummies. They were being introduced to long blades, if I remember correctly." He said. Beside Uldren, Alf nodded.

"She had a lot of promise."

"In fact, Alf wanted to take her in for special training-"

"But Cayde-6 snatched her up before I could get a good word in."

"Do you know how often Vanguards take on an apprentice, while still in active command? That exo was, and is, absolutely crazy."

"Worst part is admitting he did a good job. Remember that mission we did with her, Ethan?"

"How could I not?"

"Working with Silverhawk was like loosing a leg. Agony the whole time, and you still get phantom pain afterwords." Uldren commented. He could sense Alf lean out behind him to look at his brother, and Uldren focused on the path ahead.

They had been traveling for a good twenty minutes, and each second was agony. They were coming up on a feild of dead, twisted trees, many of them half-buried. There was a murky puddle of stagnant water, a dried up oasis of sorts, in the middle of it all. The three of them began to circle around the deep mud, when Bessy appeared in a panicked flash.

"He found them!" She declared.

"I am Groot!" Groot declared, appearing as well.

"Where is she?" Uldren demanded.

"Hush! I'm trying to watch!" Bessy snapped, before hovering in place by Ethan's head. Her shell twitched, occasionally spinning, and every so often, she would make surprised mechanical noises. Uldren lost it entirely when she let out a shocked gasp.

"What is it? What's happening?" he asked, heart pounding in his throat.

"Tay has Robert! He attacked her!"

* * *

"Hmmm. Disappointing. I was hoping you would know something." Tay said, sounding disappointing, standing up."Not thrilling. Not thrilling _at all_."

"I'm sorry to hear of your problem. What were you hoping for? To kill her again?" the Queen asked in a simpering voice. It didn't sound as offensive or antagonistic as she had hoped; she couldn't pull off 'rude' the way Uldren could.

Tay grinned at her.

"The Wolves of Iron aren't what they seem. While I would take great pleasure in being the first person ever to murder a spirit, I'm looking for a living soul, not a dead one. Like you'll be soon."

Mara glared at her. _I haven't the faintest idea what she would want with a dead Wolf of Iron. But what little I know of Ashraven, I keep to myself._

"But as we approach your final destination, I'm afraid I have to berate you for how... _un_ -thrilling you're being. We'll have to arm you, of course, to make it more exciting. A knife, perhaps?" _Oh,_ please _give me a weapon, if only just to silence you._

The vehicle slowed, and they came to a stop at the entrance to what appeared to be some form of ancient ruins. At the end of it was...

 _No._

It was the entrance to the Black Garden. They were taking her to the Black Garden.

"Look!" Tay spread her arms wide, joyfully, pointing at the gate it's cruel metal glinting off the sun."Your new home! Isn't it absolutely _thrilling_!?"

Mara was beginning to hate the word "thrilling". She jerked as Tay's meathead guards pulled her to her feet, struggled as they marched her towards the gate. She fought for every step, struggled for every inch, but it was to no avail. The guards lifted her between them by her arms, and she kicked at them, her feet dangling in mid-air.

Eventually, she grew too tired to struggle, and went limp, settling for glaring at Tay with all her might. They dragged her up the steps, and Tay's guards set her down and took a tight hold on both her arms, so much so that it hurt. Tay stood in front of the gate, turned, and grinned at them. She took something out of a small bag hanging from her belt.

It was a Gate Lord's eye.

The assassin held it up to the gate, and a whirring sound rose in the air, escalating to a mechanical roar. The eye glowed red. White conflux energy gathered at the edges of the gate. It seemed to spin around the edges...and then, like a whirlpool, it all shot towards the middle with a loud boom that made the guards and Mara flinch.

But not Tay. She stood there as energy splashed out like molten lava, landing on the ground all around her. She brushed a spark off her shoulder, smiling like she'd just witnessed the birth of a star. She turned her grin towards them.

"Are you ready to see the darkness at it's purest, your grace?" She called over the roar of the wind that was trying to suck them into the portal.

Suddenly, something pitch as a starless night flashed at the edge of Mara's vision. It shot up from behind the stairs to the platform they were standing on, and one of the guards reeled back, letting go of her, and clutching his face with a cry of pain.

"Run, your grace!" a mechanical voice cawed. A flurry of feathers, and the black bird had cut the other guard's face with his talons as well. It was one of her brother's Crows!

Jerking her arm out of the weakened grasp of the shocked other guard, Mara Sov made a break for the stairs. _Thank you, Uldren, if it is you who sent him..._ Like when her brother had appeared from the mist of the explosion, there was a faint spark of hope in her chest, to go alongside the heart-pounding terror of the moment.

She was free! If she could get to the transport and hi-jack it somehow...or maybe use her lighter frame to her advantage and make a run for the rocky cliffs where the larger guards couldn't chase her on the transport...maybe...maybe...

She let out a cry of pain as hot agony split through her lower right leg. She tripped, and fell to the ground, tumbling along the dust and rock painfully before coming to a stop at the bottom, curling up to grab at the wound. A knife was sticking out of the back of her leg, dark awoken blood seeping out of it, soaking her boot and pant leg around the wound.

Through a dizzy haze of pain, she looked up to see Tay, outlined by the light the portal cast, gripping the Crow by his beak with one hand, another knife at the ready with the other. Uldren's scout beat it's wings, pulling. It beat Tay's hand with it's wings when trying to fly away didn't work, and it swiped it's talons at her fingers to no avail; the leather on her gauntlets was too thick.

"Hmmm. I must not have hit him hard enough, if he's clear-headed enough to alert his martian scouts. Next time, maybe I won't hold back from breaking his skull. Yes, that would have kept him down for a good while... long enough not to interfere..." Tay pondered thoughtfully as the Crow struggled in her grip. Mara felt tears of pain slip down her cheeks as she pressed at the area around her wound with one hand.

The guards came up on either side of her. She noticed, with a brief flash of satisfaction, one of them sported a trio of parallel cuts dangerously close to each eye, while the other had blood trickling from six cuts on the side of his neck. Each man was glaring at the bird evilly. She wondered, sadly, what horrible end it would meet at their hands.

"Bring her up." Tay ordered her men. They stepped down, striding up to Mara and yanking her to her feet, ignoring her sharp gasps and moans of pain. They dragged her up to Tay, the Crow's struggles for freedom never wavering. They threw her down on her hands and knees in front of the assassin, who continued to grin down at her. She brandished the Crow.

"You see, this bird has the right idea. Thrilling! Absolutely thrilling! I admire this kind of loyalty, even if it is programmed into them." she told them excitedly, she grinned at the Crow.

"Why, hello, Prince Uldren! Or...is it... _King_ Uldren now? Well, if not already, then soon. You know, your bird's got moxy, I have to say. And it was such a good try,as well. She just wasn't fast enough." She jerked the bird around so it faced Mara. She flicked her free hand. "Take my prize."

For a moment, the Queen was confused. Then she remembered.

The teeth.

Before she knew it, her jaw was forced open. For the first time since her initial capture, she screamed. She struggled, tried to wretch her jaw out of their grasp, no care to whether or not she injured herself in the process. One of the guards held her head in place, pinning her head against his own body with his arm, useing that same hand to hold her top jaw, as he used his free hand to hold her bottom jaw.

She shut her eyes, not relenting. There was soon something metalic in her mouth, and then a bright, horrible pain as they slowly pulled out one of her back teeth. She let out a choked scream.

Gone was the Queen. In her place... someone who just wanted to go home. To say goodbye, to see her brother one more time, to let her people know it was all going to be _okay_... anything...

They let go of her jaw, the joints throbbing as well as her mouth as it filled up with blood. Her vision still blurred with pain, with tears of pain, she spat out a bloody glob down at Tay's feet. The guard on her right set the bloodied tooth down on the ground, and took hold of Mara's arm tightly. Still smileing, Tay leant down, and used her knife to cut the rope that bound Mara's hands together.

The Queen jerked forwards, wanting to strangle the woman in front of her. Her leg burned, her jaw and mouth ached and throbbed, and tears stung her eyes as her hair and the sand around them whipped around in the wind caused by the Black Garden's gate. Tay held the Crow close to the Queen, and the bird stopped struggleing, as if to avoid hitting Mara.

"Take a good, long look, would-be King. This is the last you'll ever see of h-" Tay was cut off with a scream of agony as the Crow gave a sudden jerk, lashing out at her face. Her screams pitched as she let go of him in shock, and he flapped and beat the air with his wings, as he clawed at her face, cawing angrily.

The guard to her left pinned her arms to her sides as she tried to stand and make another break for it, while the other guard came to Tay's rescue...though by then, the damage had already been done.

The Crow bagan to lift away with an odd, sudden jerk, and Tay's screams increased in volume. The assasin fell back into the arms of the guard that had come to help her, clutching her bleeding left eye.

Or rather, where it should have been.

For now, it was dangling from the bloodied talons of Uldren's Crow, it's glow dull, dripping blood as he took off.

"Della! Della, hold on!"the guard cried with distress as the Crow beat it's wings, taking off in a direction away from the ruins. He lifted his hand cannon, took aim, and fired. There was a suprised, animalistic, mechanical cry of pain, and the black bird dropped to the ground like a stone.

"Kill her!" he shouted at the other guard, cradling the screaming Tay in his arms and stroking her head comfortingly. With that, the burly guard spun around, and threw Mara forwards.

She let our a cry of pain as she put her weight on her bad leg, and did a sort of spin, trying to turn back. She caught a glimpse of the one guard picking Tay up in his arms like some sort of sick, twisted, murderous romantic, and the one that had thrown her turning away, bending a little, perhaps to pick up Tay's "prize".

Then...it was like the feeling one got inside an elevator. Like your insides were having trouble keeping up with your outsides. Except worse. Much, much worse, in a painful sort of way. Then, it stopped, and she fell backwards. She took in a deep, gasping breath as agony ripped through her leg, the impact with the ground having pushed the knife in further.

She rolled onto her side with a choked sound of pain. Blinking away tears, and looking up and around herself, she realized she was in a cave, surrounded by vex stone. There was an odd amount of greenery, and some very strange flowers greeted her. She kept picking up flashes of amber in the air, and leaves from no tree that she could see drifted through the air in an eeiry but beautiful way. The very air had an odd, turquiose tint to it.

Mara Sov, Queen of the awoken...was inside the Black Garden.

* * *

 **Okay, so, we won't see Uldren and the twins for the next couple of chapters. He's gonna be mad, so expect some violent disembowelment on Smelldren's part(inside joke between me and Amberstar, because he'll be calling a character 'Lice' frequently later on). Grant it, it's hard to disembowl a robot, but hey, a guy can try, can't he?**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: I thought as much. I take it you loved Groot, then?**

 **jsm1978: I have a feeling that, in Destiny 2, dead Crows will become something like CAlcified fragments, or Dormant SIVA clusters, as the new area on mars will most like be the same place that Uldren crash-landed in in the grimiore. We know he's looking for her, and we know he has some of his robots with him; but in the year between TTK and RoI... well, a lot of stuff can happen in a year if your stranded on a desert planet, and we can assume that, seeing as it's been a year, him and his Crows somehow failed to repair his ship... I think we'll be seeking out both royal siblings in D2.**

 **Fierywarlock999: I once considered changing my penname to 2Lazy2LogIn. Haven't seen that Iguana recently; did you by it a lizard leash?**

 **Guest of August 17th: Inverse Shadow perk works on them, they glitch-throw my poor hunter all the way across the map every other sheild bash, and they are very, very rude and hostile. Therefore, they are classified as minions of the darkness in this fic.**

 **ThisIsSarcasm: Greetings fellow WoF fan; I'm on team Qiblajou. You?**

 **DestinyHead123: Fun fact; of all human languages, english is the hardest to learn? Variks might have had better luck with spanish. Glad to find you're likeing the series so far, I hope to keep your interest!**

 **Guest of August 24th: My Taken King stories had undergone many overhauls in my head. It's going to change a lot of stuff in this series, and it will be drastically different than what happened in-game. Oryx did make a pretty good villain. As for the royal siblings, ina grimiore, the queen states that lingth and dark were her parents, but for this series that's different. I mean, if humans and awoken really lived as long as they do in-game, then both the Reef and the City would suffer cycles of famine and overpopulation. Their societies would be unsustainable. So, in this, people reproduce the normal way, and they live normal-spanned lives(though, Uldren is 33 in this fic by earth years, in Reef years he's 39; time is very different for them).**

 **Order and Chaos: I'm afraid Tay will only appear one more time in this series, and it's not during this fic. So no, Ethan won't get to punch her. But maybe Uldren will. As you can see, sadly Robert's story has come to an end, though. He did get Tay's eye, though, and I'm pretty sure there's a pun to make here somewhere... ah! Better be careful; you know what they say! "an eye for an eye"!**

 **Well, poor Mara Sov has gotten herself into quite the pickle, hasn't she? Smelldren and the twins are en route, but so are two other Guardians. I'm working on the second chapter of Petra's Face is Hilarious, which may some day turn out to be more important than it seems at first.**

 **Chapter eight is slow going, but it's getting there. It's hard to write because it's really funny, and the scenes I'm writeing for 15 Seconds at the moment are... depressing and dramatic.**

 **How are you guys likeing this so far? Is it doing Fever justice? We haven't had much humor here yet, but that'll change in the next chapter because it's a WHOLE chapter of Silverhawk's PoV. It's always been historically difficult to make a good sequel to the original. I think Fever may always stand as the best installment in this seires, simply because I've often found the first to always be the best in a series. Speaking of Fever, the rest of the re-written chapter should be posted soon, maybe today or tomorrow, so check often! Chapters 8-13.**

 **Next Time: Silverhawk and Martin discuss space-time, more puns than you can shake a stick at, and Martin's sparrow might know how dangerous it's driver is...**

 **Cheers!^^**


	5. Charge Da Keep

___**Step 5: Charge Da Keep.**_

 **** ** _"That wierd exo girl has an excelent point. Vex are dangerous. But so are we. And by that, I mean mostly me, I mean,_** **look** ** _at me, I'm epic. But you're awesome, too Martin. Lets go kick some butt."-Silverhawk_**

Silverhawk lowered her binoculars as the portal roared to life. Though the vex couldn't see it, her ghost, Westley, was flying low near the portal, the eye dangling from a string attached to him. He'd seemed quite excited to do something physically useful for a change.

Of course, in their usual convenience of timing, they had arrived just as the vex gate patrol had come through, blocking their way. She counted four minotaurs, two hobgoblins, and a hydra. Perfect.

"Right, Westley; here we come." she said into her comms. She put her binoculars away into a pouch on her belt. She wore gear modeled after the Takanome Rangers, and her outfit was themed blue and black, as usual. The _Sparky-Sparky Boom-Boom Stick_ was strapped to her back, and she had _Ol' Reliable_ and _Hawkmoon_ strapped on holsters on either side of her waist.

She looked to her side at Martin, who was eyeballing their pathway to the gate nervously. He was dressed for battle; he'd started wearing more battle-worthy garments after a run-in with the cabal and fallen a couple of weeks ago. He wore deep scarlet robes, with what she knew to be tightly-padded vest underneath. There was a plate on his right shoulder, and some padding on his legs. His boots and gauntlets were black and his vest and pants were the darkest of blues.

His usual belt of curiosities was tied openly around his waist. She could see his father's knife strapped next to his favorite notebook, and his mace right next to it. Mace wouldn't do much good against the vex, but he insisted on carrying it everywhere he went. _"You never know when you might need mace!"_

His favorite shotgun was strapped across his back. Correction- his _new_ favorite shotgun, seeing as the old one had been destroyed by a Venusian Treefang, along with his old sparrow, during the quest for the cure to a deadly disease that had wracked the City and Reef no less than about a month ago.

During that mission, they had worked with the _ever_ -charming Prince Uldren of the awoken; a man who could've easily fooled the inexperienced into thinking he was a gunslinger. Also, a man with a bad taste in hair style. He'd looked better the way they'd left him after the mission; he'd had to cut his hair short because of a rather incurable case of dreadlocks resulting from a thousand-foot-or-so fall from the top of a collapsing building. His haircut from before had given her OCD so bad, it made her hands twitch just thinking about it.

The Prince had also been _unbelievably_ not-fun. A killjoy in every sense of the word. And he'd gotten even worse after finding out about Silverhawk's deathtouch; a result of Certech experimentation that they'd put her through from the age of seven, all the way up to when they killed her at age 12. But, he'd agreed to keep her secret, on account of Martin's reasoning about owing Silverhawk not one, but _two_ life debts.

He'd also threatened to shoot her on-sight if they ever met again. Hence why she'd sent Martin to the Reef instead of herself. And her Warlock friend had returned victorious. So here they were, about to assault the Black Garden, of all things. Just the two of them...

And the further they got, the more she regretted not telling Cayde-6 about their mission, or the stranger that had sent them on it. She'd refrained from telling him on account of the fact he would probably brag to Commander Zavala that one of his Hunters was attacking the Black Garden, and then Zavala, rather than be impressed, would insist on a larger fireteam coming with her, or postponing the operation all together.

But...she was starting to think that...maybe a few more hands on deck would not have been such a bad idea. She'd looked for Tevis Larsen, but even Cayde didn't know where the career Nightstalker had gotten off to recently. _Oh, well; he'll have to miss out, then!_ she'd thought.

She was beginning to regret not waiting for him to pop back up again. If only for Martin's sake. Martin...wasn't the best fighter. And here they were, charging deep into vex territory, nay, the literal heart of their operations. She needed his knowledge, and his companionship; but the thought of something happening to him while she was fighting was terrifying.

Sure, he had his moments. With the _Deathening_ , and the occasional Nova Bomb. He turned into the nerd rage psychopath that power triggered whenever he held it. But other than that, he was probably the most helpless, hopeless Guardian in the Tower. He was allergic to thrall, for pete's sake!

"You ready for this, dude?" she asked none the less. He gave her a weak smile, face pale with fear.

"Nope." he responded.

"FOR NAAARRNIAAAAA!" she cried, kicking her sparrow into high gear. She blasted forwards. Martin screamed and floored it with his own vehicle.

They shot down the sandy hillside. Silverhawk saw the vex perk up as they finally noticed the two Guardians.

"For the wild!" she shouted the Hunter battle cry as they approached the ruins. She thought she saw something black on the ground, in the sand, as she entered the stone area, but she dismissed it.

She wove through the pillars, dodging blasts from the torch hammers and wire rifles. She could still hear Martin's engines behind her, and she kept an ear out to make sure he wasn't hit.

She drove past the vex, and she stuck her tongue out at the hydra as she zoomed past it and into the portal. It was like going in an elevator, except this sensation was mildly painful. And then...she was in some kind of cave, and there was a bunch of plants and vex stone everywhere.

She hit the brakes, and drifted to a halt.

She heard a wail behind her, and she snapped her head around to see Martin flying out of the vex gate, getting thrown off his sparrow...which continued driving like it had a mind of it's own, right past her, and around the corner, as if to say "Forget you, Martin Anton. I know what happened to my predecessors."

Her friend landed on his face, and when he lifted his head, she saw that his glasses were cracked in one lens, as well as slightly bent.

"Ow! Come back here, stupid sparrow! Give me back my _Deathening_!" he cried, scrambling to his feet and running after his fleeing vehicle half-heartedly, before halting, panting and supporting himself with his hands on his knees, next to Silverhawk.

"Need a ride, stranger?" she asked him with a southern accent, flipping the switch on the extension. It popped out the back end of her sparrow with a mechanical noise.

"Haha, very funny, Silverhawk." he said wryly. His face now sported several scrapes on it. _It's a good thing the floor is covered in moss, or he'd be all kinds of messed up!_

She looked around at their surroundings. The cave was made of vex stone, red leaves floated around, in from nowhere in particular and carried by a breeze she couldn't feel. The whole place had a strange turquoise glow to it, and she didn't like it. There was something about this place, not the tunnels, or the space, that made her feel claustrophobic... _suppressed_.

 _Maybe it's the darkness. This place is really dark._

There was another portal noise behind them, and Silverhawk twisted around to see Westley fly in, the eye still dangling from his shell.

"Whew, what a rush! That portal feels _weird_! And not good-weird, either!" he exclaimed as he approached them. He expanded his shell, and the string slipped off of him, the eye falling into Silverhawk's waiting hand.

"Good work, farm boy." she grinned.

"As you wish!" the ghost replied with a mock bow, before zooming over to her left shoulder as something of interest seemed to catch Martin's eye. He did a kind of perk up, and then started towards a spot on the floor.

"Dude, what is it? You have that, 'I've noticed something' look on." she asked, leaning out a bit to get a better look at whatever had caught his interest. It was the spot right about where she guessed they had come out of, and she dismounted her sparrow when Martin gestured her to follow him.

He crouched near a darkened patch of moss.

"Silverhawk...does this look like awoken blood to you?" he asked as he knelt beside the patch. She stuck two fingers into the wet moss, and gave it a sniff. It was definitely blood, and it had the same darker shade of red-purple that awoken bled instead of humanity's scarlet.

"Yeah, it sure does. Wonder how it got here..." she mused. Martin looked at nothing in particular, facing the way they had come in from, brows knit together the way they always did when he was deep in thought.

"Maybe... you know how we went to the awoken for help? And one certain prince in particular knows what we're doing? He seemed awfully reluctant to help us. Maybe...Maybe he sent a scout or something, to stop us? Just a thought." he said out loud after a few moments.

"I don't think Uldren would be too terribly concerned about us dying in here. He _did_ threaten to shoot me the next time we saw each other." she told him, and eyebrow raised.

"I find it difficult to imagine him working for the darkness. Not too terribly difficult, just a sliver. But difficult none the less. " the Warlock shook his head. "But I can't think of how anyone could have gotten in here without killing a Gate Lord; that thing was really hard to find, you know? Poor Wheatly nearly got caught in those conflux tides! What kind of network has _tides_?"

"Vex networks, apparently." Silverhawk shrugged, standing up. "Let's keep our eyes out for a wounded awoken, I guess. If they aren't already upgraded or torn up by vex minotaurs already."

"The vex don't convert people; you're thinking of cybermen, Silverhawk." getting up to stand with her. She made her way back to her sparrow, him following.

"You know, one of these days, we're going to learn how to translate all those screechy sounds the vex make, and they're going to be saying ; 'You are incompatible. Delete, delete!'" she mimicked, making her best robot face and altering her voice.

"No. They'll be all like, 'EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINAAAAAAATE!'" Martin imitated in his best Dalek voice.

Silverhawk snorted with laughter. "'You will be assimilated.'"

"'Resistance is futile.'"

"'Enter the conflux.'"

"Hey! No farting in the conflux!" Westley chided when Martin pooted, sending both Guardians and ghosts into a fit of laughter; even Wheatly, Martin's notoriously cowardly and pessimistic ghost.

Then a strange noise echoed through the halls, and they all went silent. It was mechanical screeching, from some unknown vex.

"You know... nobody knows why they screech. It isn't a way of communication; they do _that_ through the confluxes. Maybe the effect is supposed to be psychological; to distress inferior organics like ourselves. It's been noted that vex only screech when someone is around. Do... do you think that screech...means that they know we're here?" Martin worried after a few moments as they stood, ready to mount Silverhawk's sparrow.

"I don't know, Pippin." she said, shrugging and using his nickname. He didn't approve of it, but hey; that was what he got for his parents giving him the middle name 'Peregrin'. "Maybe they're screeching at our mystery guest, if they're still alive and that blood isn't some kind of vex trick to unsettle us."

"Well, if it's the latter, it certainly worked." he said with a shiver, before casting her a non-serious glare. "And don't call me that."

"Never gonna happen." she told him with a grin, swinging one leg over her sparrow. He mounted the extension, and she powered the vehicle on as cruise speed down the halls while Martin sat with his shotgun out, holding it close like a security blanket.

They were off.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

After a while, they were forced to walk. Silverhawk's sparrow kept getting caught on the vex stone, the ground too rough for the heavly-armoured transport to drive smoothly with two people on it. The vex screeching was becoming louder and louder as they went on, but so far, they hadn't seen many.

Well, not many that were active, anyway. They'd found dozens of "statues", all of which Martin and the ghosts had deemed as being in some form of stasis. They had left the tight halls behind, and entered a wider space of ruins and vex stone, old stairs and odd metal rails , inactive gates and white kinetic fields in patterns of unreadable codes.

"Whoa..." Martin exclaimed softly as they came out into the light, Silverhawk pushing her sparrow along with them. They were in a cliff, and looking out into a what might have been a desert/canyon combination...if not for the vex maze that scarred the ground. Aurora borealis swept through the dark sky, red leaves floated through the air, odd flowers and other plant life in combination with the moss and grass and green-tinged air gave the area an almost peaceful, beautiful appearance. If it were any other place, they both would have described it as breathtaking.

But this was the Black Garden. And like foxglove... it's beauty hid poison.

"There. That looks to be about where the Heart might be." Martin pointed out, taking out his notebook, head pricking up with attention, wearing that 'intense face' he got whenever he had an idea or was doing something important. He got his pen out, flipped the book open to the next two blank pages, and began sketching, occasionally looking up and then correcting something.

Silverhawk took out her binoculars, took off her sunglasses, and found the spot he had been indicating, a dark blot in the middle of the otherwise pretty scenery. The dark blot...turned out to be a dark blot, Darkness rising up like smoke before dissipating. All across the landscape were also wells of what appeared to be a sickly green light. _Well, this place certainly looks friendly._ She thought sarcastically.

She couldn't help but remember the beautiful valley that Certech had terraformed around the lab where they had invented the disease. Certech were the reason she killed everything she touched, the murderers of herself, her family, and many others, including the hundreds that had died from the disease before her, Martin, and Prince Uldren had retrieved the cure. _I think Certech and the vex would have got along._ She thought wryly.

"I wonder why this place...looks like this." Martin mused out loud, looking up and looking around with wide, curious eyes alight with that glint they got whenever there was a mystery to be solved. He wouldn't stop until he figured it out. He flipped to the next page without looking down, scanning the sky above. "Maybe it's psychological. Perhaps...they try to adapt the Garden whenever there's an intruder, to suite whatever those intruders will find most disturbing. In this case, a place of beauty hiding cybernetic oblivion."

"So...it would look different if we were say, Fallen?" she inquired.

"It depends. You and I are on the same plane. Theoretically," he looked at a leaf as it floated past, and then back down at the paper, sketching it down," it would be like the theory of parallel universes. There would be multiple planes, multiple ways to reach the Heart; multiple versions of the Garden, all suited to hunt intruders in different ways according to how the conflux interprets the efficacy of the hunt in that environment. Make sense?"

"Erm...all I heard was a bunch of timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly, spacey-wacey, sciency-wiency nonsense. Could you please repeat it in English, _not_ Gallifreyan?" she requested with a British lilt. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Alright..." he looked around thoughtfully, then, turning the book towards her, he drew two lines next to the picture of the leaf he had sketched(a rather decent sketch as well), one straight, one wavy. "Let's say... this page is the Garden."

He drew a black blot connecting to the right ends of both lines, and then drew two more lines leading to the left of the page, one with right-angled bends like a circuit, the other spiraling toward the edge of the page.

"And this black dot is the heart. Each line is a different version of the Garden. Say, right now we're here, on the spiral line, in this... well, _Garden_ world of utter beauty. Hence, Black Garden. Now, on the straight line, there could be a couple of...well, maybe there are a couple of ancient Fallen traveling on this plane, trying to do exactly what we are. Except, what they see could be someplace totally different. According to Variks, the most he's ever been able to find out about his people's home world is that the sky was pink." he explained. Silverhawk raised her hand. _PINK!_ She screeched in her head hyperactively.

"Yes, Miss Chancellor?" he asked formally.

"Um, teach, what happens when they reach the Heart? Will all four of us meet where the planes intersect?" she asked, wide-eyed and innocent. Matin raised an eyebrow.

"Silverhawk, that has to be the most advanced vocabulary I've ever heard you use."

"Nitwit. Blubber. Noodle. Tweak."

"Forget I said anything. But theoretically... yes, backup from another plane of existence is possible, but highly unlikely. We know that the vex have taken other worlds; it simply stands to logic. They probably even have a few gates connecting to the old Fallen home world. But none of those worlds have the Traveler. It died slowing and/or stopping their progress in this section of space/time; anywhere else won't have been so lucky."

"The Fallen had the Traveler. Look how things turned out for them; they've been reduced to a bunch of butchering space pirates."

"My current theory is that, as a machine, when the Traveler sensed the amount of Darkness heading for the Fallen's way, it calculated what it success rate would be if it stayed an fought, found the odds unfavorable, and left. If found it's odds with humanity to be more favorable, but then the unexpected arrival of the vex forced it to time lock them, and the resulting power surge crippled it and thus prevented it's escape."

He hesitated, and suddenly, she didn't want to hear the rest of his theory.

"Martin... you've got the 'this could be bad' face on. Is there another point to this conversation?" she asked slowly.

He heaved a sighed, looking at the ground, foot tapping as if he wasn't sure whether or not to say what was on his mind. When he looked back up, she didn't like the look on his face _at all_.

"Silverhawk... if we succeed...then, theoretically... the Traveler could come out of it's coma...and it _could_ leave us. If there is, indeed, a possible route of escape from this system, and depending on whether or not it's AI interface has become... _attached_ enough to humanity to stay. This isn't Rasputin or SIVA or even a ghost we're talking about; it's like all three mashed together. Cold calculations, the ability to construct things or turn on those who use it in a way that displeases it, development of emotional attachments to people and places." he told her slowly. Silverhawk mulled this over in her thoughts.

On the one hand, they were risking the end of the City by doing this. But they'd be taking the same risk by not doing this; Martin had said it himself, confirming what the weird, exo stranger had told them. The Traveler's time lock was fading. The vex were waking and moving again. The Heart was sucking away at the light, waging a war across time and space with the comatose Traveler.

"I guess... we'll have to take that risk, then." she shrugged. What happened, happened. Even if the Traveler left, it would leave the Guardians behind, at least. And the Ghosts. So long as they had the Ghosts to keep waking the light within potential Guardians, the City would have it's defenders. They...they would just be an easier target, was all. They would lose what minimal protection the Traveler was able to provide.

But they couldn't keep it there, not even if they wanted to. There was no way to stop the massive mechanical orb from leaving. No wall, no barrier, no tether. Attacking it, trying to force it into submission, would make them no better than the Fallen. The Speaker, and the City, would probably let it leave with sadness, but no fuss.

The New Monarchy would probably be pleased; it would mean they could finally replace the Speaker. Dead Orbit would probably scamper off with the Traveler, go to wherever it goes. The Future War Cult... now _they_ probably wouldn't be too happy. They always were the more volatile faction on the Council.

"Well, we ought to get going, don't you think?" Martin chirped in an attempt to be cheerful. "We've got a world to save! Or end..."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Dude, we aren't going to cause the end of the world. Tevis Larsen is. It's confirmed, remember? Cayde confirmed it."

Martin let out a small huff of amusement. Silverhawk took her sparrow by the handles again, and continued to push it. The area ahead seemed to let in to several tunnels; they would have to check each of them, just to be certain there were no deceptive paths down to the maze or secret teleporting elevators or anything.

Besides; she got the feeling Martin might not be finished with sketching just the one leaf and maze map.

 **Okay, so , you can all expect my next update the day RoI launches, if not the day before. Most likely, the day before, because lets face it, you aren't going to be reading fanfiction; you're going to be playing Destiny. And those of you who are staying up late so they can play the MOMENT it launches will need something to pass the time. Before you all ask, about the "Traveler leaving" thingy… nobody knows about Rasputin's little ABHORRENT watch-ya-ma-callit protocol.**

 **Order and Chaos: Tay was just joking about killing someone who was already dead. We'll get into Tays hirers later in-series. It's going to end up tying so many things all together in a nice little bow.**

 **(False) Fierywarlock999: Yup. Space magic.**

 **(Real) Fierywarlock999: You amuse me, mortals.**

 **Guest(3** **rd** **): *angry twitching, glares at cabal***

 **MaybeALittleBroken: I KNOOOOOOOOOOWW! *high-pitched screaming* YOU"VE SPREAD IT TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

 **Guest(4** **th** **): He is tough. That, and his sister used space-magic to keep him a live for a while(in my head the process is very unpleasant, bordering on inhumane). Martin and Silverhawk are in no way influenced by my in-game characters. My Hunter is actually based off of one of Amberstar's OC's, Lizza, an Auror in her pottertrek fic. She is human.**

 **Guest(6** **th** **):The awoken age very differently than humans.**

 **Raise your hand if you're staying up till 2AM on the 20** **th** **for Rise of Iron's launch! *raises hand***

 **If you want something consistent, Amberstar of Thunderclan is posting a one-shot a day up to the launch, in a short series called 12 Days of RoI; go check it out, it's hilarious, and she's even written a bit about the Iron Lords for tomarrow!**

 **I am so FREAKING EXCITED PEOPLE! I might just update EVERYTHING on the 20** **th** **…**

 **Next Time: The Queen meets the idiots her brother keeps complaining about, and Silverhawk makes a wish. Wish granted.**

 **Cheers!^^**


	6. Fight the Past Giddyup

**_Part 6: Fight the past. Giddyup._**

 ** _"Nothing good happens when you get time travel involved. One of Cayde's little fibs is that a conflux node set a velociraptor on him once. Almost as good as " I stole the secrets of stealth from Rasputin", but still; you never know what the vex might mess with. One TRUE story I've heard... is that they pulled over an old nuclear warhead from the 20th century, and that's what caused Ishtar to sink. Blew it up underground. Guardians couldn't stop them in time; didn't know how to disarm the damn thing." -Tevis Larsen, Nightstalker._**

* * *

"Okay, this time, I'm certain. One-hundred percent. Okay, ninty-nine percent, but who cares. This is the way."

"Okay, one; that is word-for-word what you said last time. Two; LOOK OUT! WEEPING ANGLE, WEEPING ANGLE!"

He let out a girly scream, leaping at least three feet into the air as he spun around in the direction she was pointing.

"GHAAA! WHERE!?"

Silverhawk burst into laughter, leaning against her sparrow for support. Recovering his breath with one hand over his heart, he glared at her. _His_ face _! Too beautiful!_

"Silverhawk! Not funny! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he reprimanded angrily. She knew he wouldn't stay mad for long, though; he never did.

"S-sor-ry!" she said between laughs."Couldn't resist! I-I mean, they _do_ feed o-off of time ene-rgy!"

They had just tried the second tunnel, which had been a rather tight squeeze through some vex stone, eventually leading to a dead end. They were now going to try the wider tunnel towards the left side of the area they had first come out of the cliff into.

But as Silverhawk recovered from laughing, and they made their way down the stairs and around to the open space, they heard-and, for the first time, _saw_ \- the vex. There were at least a few dozen of them, all chaseing a lurching figure that obviously wasn't a robot. _What-or who-the snapple cracks is that?_

Reguardless, Ol'Reliable was in her hand in a heartbeat.

* * *

Mara Sov was currently running for her life.

She had left the cave she had arrived in when the first signs of vex arrival began to present themselves. She had somehow managed to sneak her way through a good portion of the Garden, looking for a suitable place to hide; whatever good hiding would do. It would only prolong the inevitable.

And then, her luck had run out. She had stopped in a smaller run off cave, and decided to once again make the best of the pletiful moss, which was eerily clean, likely from the fact that the vex were fairly sanitary. So much so, that Variks and a few other Fallen she'd spoken to about them said that it wasn't a scent that gave vex away; it was a _scentlessness_.

She'd been pressing moss against the area around the knife and it's wound, knowing full well that removing the weapon would only make things worse. It burned like fire whenever she walked, and she had wondered how her brother managed to carry on missions with similar injuries.

The mere thought of Uldren had brought a pang with it. She'd hoped he would rule her people wisely, not give way to whatever war Tay's employers wanted. She had allowed Petra Venj to stay in the Reef on account of her preformance during the disease crisis. Her and Uldren seemed to have worked well together; she hoped he would continue to rely on her military wisdom.

She'd learned much from her mistake all those years ago. She'd matured from that lying teenager, who'd been younger than she'd looked, fooling everyone all for the sake of vengeance. Hopefully, she would be able to play the voice of reason if Uldren did get unreasonable while on the throne.

He'd always taken Mara's advice with a sort of reluctance if it wasn't in his line of thinking; one of the reasons, she guessed, that he didn't ask permission to go on the quest for the cure. Tay was right about one thing; he was a very impulsive man, and it was his desire to protect her that had gotten into trouble so many times over the years.

She'd given him a nice, long talking to once she was well enough, and had heard the story from Petra when the Emissary had brought the cure over. And when she had questioned him about it, to hear the full version, she'd gotten the sense that he was lying about something; or several somethings.

Sometimes, getting him to follow orders was like loosing a leg. Agony the whole time, and you still get phantom pain afterwords. If agony was stormy glares and a fumeing expression, and phantom pain being the stubborn, arrogant cold shoulder you got afterwards.

But at least he was spared death at the hands of Tay, though she couldn't help but fear for him after what had transpired at the gate. Tay would most likely want revenge, and would probably want to wreck it against the Crow's master. She hoped Tay would think Mara's death as punishment enough for the loss of her eye.

As good as Uldren was, she didn't think anyone could survive a personal vandetta with Tay. He'd been hunting her... well, maybe he'd been hunting her ever since he was a child, after their mother was killed by the then 16-year-old assasin. A face-to-face meeting would be like his dream come true; a chance for revenge. But he would loose. Oh, _she_ _ **knew**_ , he would lose.

Then, she'd been pulled from her thoughts by the screeching of vex drones. Giving the moss one last forcefull press, she had risked a peak outside the small, black, vex stone cave. And she'd come nearly face-to-face with a minotaur.

She'd frozen, keeping as still as possible, hopeing that it would back off if it didn't sense any more movement, that it wouldn't look in her direction if she held completely still.

But then... it _had_ turned. And her platnium-blond hair had stuck out like a sore thumb against the dark metal of her shelter. The minotuar had screeched in a deep tone, charging up it's torch hammer, and she had reached down, and, with a sharp, pained sound, had taken the knife out of her wound and started to run at an odd, lurching, skipping gait.

 _"You're being shot at by vex minotaurs! Hobgoblins just beside them. No, stop running like some scared civilian! Weave, you green idiots! Don't let them get a lock on you, keep them confused! Get them to cross fire if you can! Himalay, you look like a chicken with it's head cut off; I said WEAVE, not run around in circles! Confuse_ them _, not youself! DO I HAVE TO COME DOWN THERE, CYRISS?"_

Words from a day observing her brother's training of Crow recruits rang through her head, and she had begun to lurch around in a waveing pattern through the ruinous halls, all the while trying to pry the inhibiting collar off from around her neck with the knife. If she could get it off...use her powers...

She'd thought, perhaps, if she could get it off, and focused hard enough... maybe she could destroy all the vex that were chaseing her, and perhaps lessen the severity of her wound. It would put her in serious danger, though; summoning harbringers made her dizzy, but such a focused use of her power, such as destroying all these single units of vex, could lead to a dangerously long period of unconsciousness.

She'd never tried anything like that. She'd never had to. She'd used her powers for all sorts of things; the harbringers, locating her brother, minor telepathy. She'd even used them to keep Uldren alive after the initial attack that had granted him the scar on his throat. But she'd never used them for feild combat before. Maybe, it wasn't possible.

But it didn't matter.

She'd just stumbled into an open room-the first open area she had encountered in the Garden-when what must have been a blast from a slap rifle hit her directly on her wound. She fell with a cry of pain for the second time that day, nearly stabbing herself in the throat as she fell.

Knowing full well that she would fail miserably at any impromptu knife-throwing attempts in her current state, and giving up on physically breaking through the collar, she focused every drop of her mental power in an attempt to psychically break the lock. Rolling over, she had just enough time to see the minotaur looming over her, raising it's metal foot to stomp down on her torso and crush her ribcage. _I suppose... even Queens must end at some point..._

And then, the shots rang out. Three of them, each one hitting it's mark, sending the minotaur staggering back as high-calliber rounds hit it, one shot obliterating the faint sheild that radiated around it, the other two hitting it so hard, she could see exactly where they hit. One round hit it's hip, disconecting it's leg, and the other hit it so hard in the torso, Mara felt a shard of metal cut her cheek.

It was the sound of a hand cannon fireing. _Uldren?_ Could it be... had her reckless brother somehow managed to follow them, follow her, even through the blow to his head and the damaged saftey doors? How had he activated the gate!?

She looked to where the shots must have come from, but her brother was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there wa a bright red fedora that she wasn't personally aquainted with, but had heard enough complaints about to know who the person whos head it graced was.

 _Silverhawk._

And sure enough, beside her was the sparrow she'd heard Uldren describing through the wall of her bedroom last night(he'd been up literally all night, keeping her awake with his blasted sound effects and rageing about how stupid Silverhawk and Martin were), and the same young man with glasses that she had met yesterday in her throne room, and several days before that.

She was... much shorter than what the Queen had envisioned. She wore an armour model she'd seen commonly on more expirianced Hunters, with a dark blue, ankle-length cloak. Her whole color sceme was dark blue and black, with hints of red here or there, her fedora a shiny, bright red, and a pair of aviator sunglasses graced her eyes, hideing them.

 _I must have been thrown in here with correspondance to their mission! I am either very lucky, or they are very unlucky._

"Oi! Bucket heads!" Silverhawk called in a british lilt, dark blue and black hand cannon in her left hand, voice very young. "My mentor thinks you to be very charming hat racks! I've always wanted one of my own!"

"What hats?" Martin inquired, looking at her with his brow furrowed. "You only have the one."

"Meh. Cloak racks then." Silverhawk shrugged, dropping the lilt for something more american. A slap rifle blast wizzed right past her arm, and she snapped back to attantion.

"Well, escuuuse me, princess! I'm _trying_ to have a conversation with my bestie, here!" the Hunter fumed, fists on her hips. Through watching Silverhawk's antics, Mara Sov quickly crawled behind a ruined pillar for cover as the two Guardains engaged the crowd the Queen had brought with her. She risked a look in the direction she had come in, and saw that she had drawn up quite a number of vex, ranging from goblins to minotaurs to hobgoblins and even a few specialy-marked axis harpies.

 _I've given them quite the mess to clean up, haven't I?_ Though she couldn't say she was sorry; if they hadn't been there, she would have been flattened to a bloody pulp by now. She heard a sparrow power up, and an eccentric "yeha!" from Silverhawk, right before the huntress came charging through with intent to create vex roadkill.

 _Uldren_ really _wasn't kidding about this one._ He'd sworn on his honor that she was crazy, and as the evidence presented itself, vex bodies flying through the air into heaps of sprap, she couldn't help but agree that Silverhawk was, indeed, a madwoman who didn't seem to have the most logical of priorities.

Or maybe that was just a Hunter thing? She'd heard similar accusations from people who worked with them, Petra included. In one letter begging her to allow a return to the Reef, the emissary had mentioned a "lunatic Nightstalker", and the Hunter Vanguard blowing up a swimming pool.

And Silverhawk's endangerment of Uldren had driven the one-eyed ex-corsair around the bend. _I hope that_ I _don't end up falling from such heights..._ her brother's accrophobia aside, a mid-air rescue sounded less than pleasant.

She heard footsteps behind her, and twisted her head around to see Martin Anton come from around the broken pillar to join her side.

"Your grace!" he exclaimed upon seeing just who she was, jaw slack.

"We may discuss my identity later, Warlock." she told him tiredly. She felt a little groggy and dizzy, perhaps from blood loss. Martin crouched down by her side, and took out the knife at his belt. She tensed, but then relaxed when he merely cut away her pant leg up to her knee, before reaching around his waist to get at one of the pouches at his side.

"Hold still as best you can; this may hurt a bit." he informed her gently, one hand on her shoulder, the other holding a small spray bottle close to her wound as she crouched on her hands and knees.

She clentched her jaw with pain as he sprayed what had to be some form of disinfectant over her wound. _Thrall spit and space urchins!_ As some Guardians, and even some Crows, would swear. Her nails dug into the moss, and she felt her voice grinding in her throat. _Ignor it. Ignor it. I've seen and caused worse._

 _IGNOR IT._

She was benevolant, made of iron, ruthless when need be. But she was no solder. She fought with Reef magic and cunning, but very rarely had to personally take up arms. She knew how to fight, but Uldren was the fighter of the two of them. _Perhaps I should have him train me._ She thought in dizzy bemusement. _If I ever see him again._ She couldn't handle physical pain the way he could, just like the deaths of their parents had wrecked emotional havok on him that had barely made a dent in her. She handled pain like he handled grief:

Not well. Just another thing that made them polar opposites.

"There. That'll stop it getting infected until you receive proper medical treatment." Martin's soft, young voice told her. His City accent was slightly discernable from Silverhawk's more american one; he had a hint of something british in his voice that was slight enough to keep one guessing, but to the trained ear noticable. She took several deep breaths as the agonizing sting began to intensify before beginning to fade. She glanced at Martin from over her shoulder to see him unraveling a bandage.

Furious horn honking brought her attantion back to Silverhawk's road rage as he began to wrap it around her leg.

"THAT'S RIGHT! OFF YOU POP, YOU LITTLE... _DALEKS_!" The huntress screamed, swinging around towards them before drifting to a halt in front of the pillar as the vex retreated, many mechanical bodies littering the ground. _Dalek? What's a dalek?_

"Well, that's unusual. I've never heard of the vex retreating when there are so few enemies to exterminate." Martin mused as he finished binding Mara's wound. On her sparrow, Silverhawk put her fists to her sides, and lifted her chin in a proud sort of way.

"I'll tell you why! They realised their probabilities of winning against my awesomeness were zero, so they ran away scared! HA!" She declared smugly before doing a double take." HOLEY DOUGNUTS, IS THAT THE FREAKING _QUEEN_!?"

"Yes, and she would appreciate it if you stopped yelling." the Queen told her witheringly, putting one hand to her forehead. She had a horrible headache from trying to use her powers.

"Your grace, what are you doing here?" Martin asked, green eyes wide as Mara moved into a sitting position against the pillar. She closed her eyes tiredly. _This is a conversation I don't feel like haveing at the moment._

All she wanted, really, at this point, was some sleep. Any amount of it would do, even if she never woke up.

"I would prefer to save this particular explanation for later. It would be... tiresome to me, to have to repeat it to whomever else comes to my aide, should any more help present itself." she sighed, still rubbing her head. Her headache was gradually worsening. How bad would it get, if her powers remained supressed? She felt like she had no control over them; was she still subconsously trying to break the brace around her neck without realizing it?

She remembered the most severe side effect of useing these powers she'd ever seen. Uldren, many years ago, in refusal to lose over fifty awoken Crow scouts, had thrown a mental 'temper tantrum' of sorts against a small cabal fleet.

He'd put himself into a week-long coma, and the only remaining bit of the fleet they'd found was a lump of melted metal the size of her hand. It had been nothing like a harbringer attack; her brother didn't have the same amount of control she had, he hadn't the ability to summon the harbringers.

He'd simply dissitigrated things with uncontrolled rage and left no room for survivors. Since then they'd both agreed that, until he practiced proper mental training, he should avoid any more usage of his powers unless the situation was unavoidable; twelve Crow ships had been damaged by his outburst, there was no telling how many he could hurt if he lost control again.

Martin and Silverhawk both opened their mouths, but a buzzing sound, like electricity, filled the air. Behind Silverhawk, a dark cloud began to form, a spark at it's center. Martin turned and noticed it as well.

"Um...Silverhawk... I... don't think they were running because of you." The Warlock said, paleing. Mara groaned internally, too dignified to leave her emotions unchecked now that other people were here. She settled for giving the cloud the most withering look she could muster. _When, by Saturn's rings, when!? When will it end!?_

"It's a time-space rupture! The vex are pulling something through!" Martin exclaimed, getting to his feet, eyes fixed on the cloud fearfully.

"Please be a dinosaur, please be a dinosaur, please be a dinosaur!" Silverhawk wished at the same time, closeing her eyes and crossing the fingers on both her hands, holding them up to her face.

"Please _don't_ be a dinosaur!" Martin countered, looking horrified at the mere thought of faceing a prehistoric animal.

"I would be content with anything save more vex." the Queen shook her head. She would soon regret that statement.

The cloud dispersed, the vex finished their time manipulation, and _it_ then stood before them.

"Not good." Martin said faintly.

"I just had to open my mouth..." Mara sighed, bracing herself for more running. _Talk about "be careful what you wish for"._

"YES!" Silverhawk screeched at the same time, giving a small jump and clicking her heels. "BEST. DAY. EVER!"

Because what stood before them now... was undoubtedly, by way of conveiniance for certain...

A T-Rex.

* * *

 **Am I you heros yet?**

 **OH MY GOSH IT'S TOMARROW RISE OF IRON eurgbraibvgui;uerit5hw4g5yt43uyrbwevfrgeacfjgt!**

 **Order and Chaos: I think I already addressed this in a PM.**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: More incoming! ^^ All aboard the reference train! Whoo Whooo!**

 **Guest(15th): I think maybe D2 will include both Cabal and Vex. After all, evidence suggests we'll be dealing heavily with Mars.**

 **I'm still repairing the doors from when they were busted down by the full-blown review SWAT team Sovietshadow invaded my profile with. I'm not going to bother responding to all of them. So, I'll just type this;**

 **0-0**

 **Krissa: Binge away, dear reader! Binge, AWAY!**

 **Okay, so I've realized that there have been some questions as to the timeline in this universe. SIVA was mentioned last chapter because, lets face it, the Iron Lords can't up and disappear without anyone noticing. Perhaps it's alittle-kown history, the cause of their deaths, thanks to Lord Saladin, but it's known history non the less. In this universe, that battle took place 20 years before Fever. And, at the same time, we had Dreagen Yor running around killing people. What's more, Martin was born around this same time. He came into a world of chaos, and the events surrounding his birth have always held deep interest to him, so that's why he dug deeper into the history and that is why he knows about SIVA.**

 **The Dark Below, for the purposes of this fic, took place roughly a year before Fever and the original game plot. Therefore, here we are, in the Black Garden quest... with a certain Queen and Prince tagging along. hence, the fact that this is AU. We'll be dealing with House of Wolves next, and after that,. we'll finish up the Certech plot with 15 Seconds, and move on to the Twilight plot. if you've been keeping up with 15 Seconds, you'll have noticed a second, cheeky mention to the Iron Wolves, and if you were paying attention in an earlier chapter of this fic, you'll have seen my mention of Ashraven and the Wolves.**

 **I'll admit to Twilight plot involving them, but I will discuss it no further.**

 **So there, I hope that cleared a few things up!**

 **Next Time: T-rex V.S. Silverhawk; Who. Will. Win. Place your bets, folks!**

 **Cheers!^^**


	7. Don't Let Your Dreams, Be Dreams!

**_Step seven: Don't Let Your Dreams, Be Dreams!_**

 ** _"Battle a T-Rex?! Are you INSANE!? I would_** LOVE ** _to battle a T-Rex!" - Cayde-6_**

 ** _"*deep, nasal breath* My entire life, has prepared me for this moment."- Tevis_**

 ** _"Nope."- Petra Venj_**

 ** _"What is a... T-Rex? Is it edible?"- Variks_**

* * *

"Today, my dreams become reality!" Silverhawk exclaimed, eyes watering. _This... is the awesomest opportunity life has ever presented me!_

It towered over them, examined it's new surroundings with a growl, tail lashing, sniffing the air. It had tiny little arms, large, clawed feet, a scarred, scaly body, and looked for all the world like a disgruntled cat that had just been pulled into your lap while in the middle of an intense spider hunt! _HOW_ DARE _YOU DENY ME MY SPIDERS!?_

"I think we better run!" Martin yelled behind her, grabbing the Queen by one arm and pulling her to her feet. Silverhawk, having turned at his cry, gave him a confused look.

"I thought their vision was based on movement?" she asked as, supporting the Queen, Martin and their impromptu companion ran off in the way the two Guardians had just come from.

"That only works in movies!" her best friend called over his shoulder. "RUN FOR IT! RUN FOR THE ROSES!"

"I ain't afraid of no dinos!" she yelled back. Behind her, she heard a growl.

Slowly, she turned around. And found herself face-to-snout with the T-Rex(whom she now referred to as Moby). She smirked, unable to resist.

"Clever girl." Then she registered its breath. "UGH! EW!"

She backed up, waving her hand in front of her face. "Two words: toothbrush!"

The creature parted its jaws and roared in her face deafeningly, spraying her with spit and putrid dino-breath odor. _I always wanted a dino-tooth necklace!_ Oh, Cayde was going to bust a circuit when he heard about this!

"FOR THE WILD!" She screeched jumping forwards as it lunged to eat her whole. She heard its muzzle hit the ground where she had been standing, and felt the vibration in the vex stone. She felt a few chunks of rock hit her legs as well, but she kept running forwards, to its feet.

As it stepped around, trying to get at her, she jumped up, unsheathing her blades, and stabbed its calf. Roaring, it twisted around trying to snap its jaws shut on her as she sung on the hilt of her blade. It stumbled, falling over with a crash.

 _Yeeeehaaaaa! I love my job!_

"Westley, you know what to play!" she yelled out loud. "Requiem of a Dream" started playing from within her hood, and she mentally facepalmed; she'd meant "Born to be Wild", but oh, well; this song was too dramatic to stop it the moment it started. She ran up its haunch, and stabbed her blade in again as it began to scramble to its feet.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw more clouds forming, though not as large as the one that had brought forth this prehistoric behemoth. Then, she re-focused on the task at hand, swinging on her blade as the T-rex staggered to its feet, thrashing, kicking, trying to dislodge her.

"Ugh; hold still, Moby! I'm _trying_ to kill you!" it gave a massive stomp that made her lose her grip, and she was sent tumbling to the ground. Blinking pain out her eyes with a grunt, she rolled out of the way as it tried to stomp on her.

Rolling to her feet, adrenaline coursing through her, she ran. She didn't want to use her gun; she was still hoping to pull of something a little more epic than that. She could feel it coming after her, its every step shaking the ground. _THIS. IS. BLAZING!_

However, it was her misfortune to be backed into a corner. She pulled out Hawkmoon. The custom weapon weighed just right, fit just perfectly in her hand. Tevis and Cayde had modified her old Eyasluna, carved the barrel elegantly, and had presented it to her for her last birthday. _I really don't want to shoot you, Moby. I wanted to do a Legolas. But it looks like I'll-_

She burst out laughing as she turned around. She had been backed into a corner, and Moby had lunged, jaws parted to kill...

Only for its head to be too broad to get at her because of the corner. She pointed and laughed uncontrollably as it smashed it's head into the corner walls several times more, trying to get at her.

"I got a big head," she mocked, "and little arms, and I don't know if this plan was thought out very well."

Moby roared, tail lashing, tiny arms stretching out to try to grab her. She smiled, looking at Hawkmoon. Maybe there _was_ a way to do this epically. She turned to the wall, backed up a little, and ran at it. She jumped, and kicked off it, turning in mid-air, landing on Moby's snout as he lunged to try and bite her again.

Moby thrashed his head, sending her flying backwards. She pulled out Ol'Reliable as she went through the air, twisting to get an angle on him. She fired both guns, and both bullets went through the T-rex's eyes as he turned around to watch were his prey landed.

Silverhawk rolled as she hit the ground painfully, but at the end of her roll, she sat there kneeling, watching as Moby staggered with an animalistic death moan, and fell to the ground, eyes now no more than bloody holes. She strode up the body, twirling her guns as she holstered them, and pat Moby's snout, taking her hat off.

"You were a mighty foe, my dream opponent. But not mighty enough." she declared solemnly with one hand over her heart, before taking her knife out and using it to pry out of the beast's monstrous fangs. She held it up. "Trust me, buddy; this hurt me a lot more than it hurt you."

A girly scream in the distance alerted her to the fact that whatever had come from the second cloud was still outlook, and animalistic screeching told her that whatever it was _not_ friendly in the slightest.

* * *

They were bipedal. The lizards had two arms, with feathers on them, and there were three of them. Their bloodthirsty cries echoed just as the Vex's screeching did, and the pain in her leg echoed with each half-step she took.

"Velociraptors! WHY!?" Martin wailed as they ran at a lurching gait, one arm looped under her shoulder, supporting her. She'd never felt like less of a Queen. She could still hear the T-rex roaring behind them as it tried to get at Silverhawk.

Martin led her to a hill of stairs and ruins, and began to climb it. Looking back, she saw the raptors closing it, having spotted their prey after taking a confused look around at their surroundings. Martin reached down, and helped her over the edge of the collapsed, ruined stairs.

"Warlock Anton, remove this collar from me, quickly!" she demanded, tilting her head to the side. The young human's eyes widened, focusing on a point beyond her, and she turned her head to see the raptors gaining ground quickly.

"I'm sorry, but that's going to have to wait, your grace!" he said, grabbing her by the shoulder and leading her towards more rubble. He climbed up a fallen pillar, and helped her up it as well. He helped up farther onto the pile, which reached all the way up to the ceiling, and suddenly, the raptors were upon them.

The first one jumped, and landed halfway up, and its fellows landed not too far behind. They hissed and snarled up at their prey, revealing rows of sharp, white fangs in their narrow muzzles. Martin brought his shotgun off of his back fearfully.

"Nice velociraptor mongoliensis, nice dinosaur..." he said fearfully, pointing the barrel at them with shaking hands. _Is he certain he is fit for duties as a Guardian?_ He didn't seem like a very good solder.

"Guardian; my collar. _Now_." The lead raptor leapt, and he fired. With an animalistic scream, it fell. The others hissed at it as it fell, and they jumped back down to its body, ripping into their comrade cannibalistically.

Martin lay his shotgun on his lap, hands shaking wildly, and reached for Mara. She tipped her head to the side obligingly, adrenaline and panic coursing through her as Martin took out his knife, and pried a small panel off the side off the collar out of her sight. She hoped his shaking hands didn't slip and cut her.

"W-what's this c-collar for, anyway?" he asked, just as she felt the collar disengage, it's lock opening. At that moment, a raptor leapt up from below, and its jaw closed on her bad leg, right on her wound. She screamed as it tried to pull her off the mossy pillar near the ceiling, agony flashing through her like a bolt of lightning.

She felt Martin grab her, looping his arms under her own in an effort to keep it from dragging her off. In the end, it took both of them with it. Pain sung through her as they fell down, the raptor letting go as they hit the ground. Martin made a horrible gasping noise nearby, and she turned her head to see him flat on his back, face contorted with pain as his glasses skid across the floor. His back lifted slightly, revealing him to have landed on what appeared to be a sharp rock. _His spine. Did he just break his spine?_

The raptor that had taken her jumped at him, and the Warlock raised his hand, and covered his eyes, as a lurch of fear flashed through her. There was an odd hissing sound as the raptor landed on him... and then it let out a high-pitched keening sound of agony, staggering off of him, clawing at its eyes.

Mara took the collar off as the second raptor leapt on her, and focused with all her might on their beings. With a burst of angry mental power, she sent them both flying into the walls so hard, their necks snapped. Sitting up, a wave of intense dizziness and coldness washed over her in combination of the fresh agony to her leg, and she swayed, stars dancing in her vision.

"Your grace? Are you okay? Did _you_ do that? That was awesome! Blazing!" She heard Martin saying. If he said anything else, she didn't hear it, as blackness overtook her.

* * *

She didn't know how long she was out, maybe a few seconds, perhaps a couple minutes. _That... should not have been as draining as it was._ Destroying a whole load of vex was one thing, but throwing a couple of raptors should have been easy; enough to make her a little dizzy and chilly, but not knock her out and drain all warmth from her body like it had. It felt like she'd just summoned Harbringers.

The first thing she was aware of was something wrapped around her; something warm, and made of fabric, that she embraced because of the arctic-like coldness she felt. The second thing she was aware of was that she was laying on the ground. The third...

The horrible, throbbing agony she felt in her leg. Someone was tending it, wrapping what might be bandages around it. Her head pounded with a horrible migraine. The fourth thing she noticed was that someone was talking; two someone's, in fact.

"...may be in shock or something. Her body temperature dropped like a stone, and her wound is considerably worse. I think that use of telekinesis might have drained her more than anything else, though." Said the first voice, that of a young man's. _Guardian Anton._ she remembered.

"Well, she _did_ throw them across the room, _with her mind_ , which is totally _blazing_ , by the way!" came the second voice, young and female and proud. _Silverhawk._

She opened her eyes. The fabric wrapped around her was Martin's scarlet robes, still warm with the heat of the previous wearer, and she was laid on a moss patch while he re-dressed her leg. Silverhawk was back, seeming to have successfully put down the T-rex... _on her own_ , no less. She looked a little battered, but perfectly fine all the same; exhilarated, even.

Martin was wearing a padded, armor-like blue vest over a tunic that had sleeves going down to his elbows. He noticed she was awake, and his eyes turned to her, wide and worried. She ran her gaze over him swiftly, feeling a small trickle of relief run through her when she realized he was kneeling at her side in a way someone with a broken spine would not have been able to do. There was a long cut on the left side of his face, though, and it had bled profusely in the time she'd been out.

It started just above his eyebrow, curved around his eye, and went in a jagged line all the way down to his jawline. Thinking back to those last, terrifying moments, she seemed to remember him losing his glasses in the fall. _That raptor must have caught him in the face before he did... whatever it was he did to injure it._

"Your grace?" he questioned worriedly, his glasses back where they should be, though the left lens had a crack running through it. "How are you feeling?"

She felt like she'd been thrown off a ruin pile after a dinosaur bit her leg and- oh, wait. That was exactly what had happened.

"Like..." she began, still feeling dizzy, voice like a whisper, throat dry, "I have fallen from a great height."

"You did." Martin confirmed gently as Silverhawk backed off to keep watch while her friend worked his medical expertise. She instinctively flinched as he put his hands on her face, forcing her eyelids open so he could further examine her. "Any nausea? Dizziness? Remember taking any blows to the head on the way down?"

She'd hit _everything_ on the way down. She felt like she'd been tumble-dried, or dropped off a mountain. It felt like, as if the bite, burn, and cut weren't enough, her bad leg was now broken. She attempted to lift herself into a more dignified position, and she felt a little more wretched as the young warlock helped her into a sitting position against the rock behind her, his robes still wrapped around her.

"I... do not believe I am concussed, Warlock Anton, if that is what you mean." she told him breathlessly. He offered her a clear, half-filled canteen, and she accepted, drinking greedily, chasing away the thirst that had so plagued her. It also made her feel a little more civil again. Where the rest of the bottle's contents were didn't take long to guess, as her leg felt... fresher somehow, and the area beneath it was dark with water. Not only had Martin dressed her wounds, he'd cleaned them as well.

She took a mental note to think of some sort of reward in payment for his kindnesses. The young human - so _young_ , he looked like a _child_! - while scared witless during the fight, was proving himself a very good doctor despite their current and very dangerous situation. His care was more than she'd expected to find in this... _place_. Now that her wounds were seen to, with other people at her side, even if they were human, she felt like she might have a chance at surviving.

 _Uldren!_ The collar was off, she could reach out, contact him, let him know where she was, that she was safe, for now, and that he needn't risk his own life to come for her. With the latter, she had a feeling he wouldn't listen and would come after her anyway, no matter how severe a punishment she threatened.

As she started to reach out, Martin must have noticed her eyes start to burn, and he gave her a rough shake.

"You shouldn't do that, your grace; you're in a state of bio-neuro shock. For most, it's a theoretical condition, but for your bloodline, it isn't. If you use your powers too much, you'll go into a state of severe mental and neurological shock and become completely catatonic for who knows how long." he warned her. Hadn't her mother warned her of something similar once?

Reluctantly, she let the connection in her mind sever before it could complete, though for brief moment she brushed the surface of his mind. He was alive, uninjured. Somewhere hot. He was angry. _Really_ angry, and... _grieving_. She shuddered as more ice trickled down her spine, and she pulled the robes tighter around herself. _He must think me dead._ She realized. _I_ must _leave this place! Before my brother destroys himself..._

"We must leave this place. _Now_." She told him, casting a glance at Silverhawk nearby. Martin flinched, looking sheepish, and she fixed him with a tired, benevolent stare. "What is the problem with this?"

"The... theoretically, the only way to leave the Black Garden is by severing it's anchor to this reality, thus causing it to faze back in with normal space/time. That anchor... is the Heart." Martin explained reluctantly. Mara felt something inside her wither further. She had interrupted their quest to kill the Heart; she was wounded, and unable to use her powers. She was deadweight, as much as she hated to admit, and she felt more wretched than ever before. Some Queen she was, if she couldn't even help save herself.

"You know, that place we came in at seemed pretty safe to me." Silverhawk piped up. Martin turned to look at her, confused. "You take the Queen and hide there, I'll scout ahead and see what there is to see, come back, and then we can all sleep on it and think of a really good backup plan! Sound okay?"

 _Ha! Me, turned to running and hiding, and accepting help from Guardians!_ Humans _, no less!_ She guffawed in her head. Before Martin could agree or disagree, raising one finger, Silverhawk spoke again, bounding away.

"Great plan, right? I'll go get my sparrow!" she called over her shoulder, skipping away. Martin's hand lowered, and the young warlock watched his friend leave unhappily.

"How did you do it?" Mara rasped in an attempt to distract herself from the pain. Martin's head turned back towards her, tipped curiously to one side. "Attack the raptor?"

"Oh! This!" he took something out of his belt; a small, white spray canister. "It's called mace, a sort of very strong pepper spray."

Queen Mara nodded slowly, closing her eyes. "And how did you survive the rock that you landed on?"

"Oh, Warlock robes have nanites interwoven into the fabric that focus the wearers light and uses it to form a thin shield. I have mine set to protect mostly against blunt force impacts, because I fall off my Sparrow a lot. I even broke a few ribs once!" he told her, holding up one of the sleeves to his robes, fingering the fabric as if to show her the nanotechnology woven into the threads.

 _On me, these robes offer no protection._ While she was now warmer than she had been, the Warlock was now unprotected and the robes' nanites did not work with her wearing them. They were just fabric.

Silverhawk came running up with her Sparrow. She pressed a button on one of the handles, and an odd extension popped out the back. She patted the seat.

"Git on yur spers, your majesty; thy carriage awaits!" she said brightly. She could stand Guardian Anton. She decided to spare only a withering glance at his companion. Her... brightness in their situation, Mara found, was inappropriate. _I can see now why Uldren found her insufferable._

Martin helped her to her feet, and she sat down on the odd extension. Martin reluctantly took the front seat, taking the handles as if the Sparrow were a wild beast that he was afraid of riding. With a flash, she remembered what he'd said about his tendency to fall off Sparrows, and suddenly wondered if it was a good idea at all for him to be driving. _As if I know how to drive these Guardian vehicles._ She gave a small snort.

"Alrighty, then; you take her back to the portal place, I'll find the Heart, come back, then bingo we get a plan and blow some junk up, okay?" Silverhawk told her friend cheerily, patting him on the back. "See ya!"

"Heather." Martin demanded dangerously as she spun around to leave swiftly. _Heather? Her real name, perhaps?_ It occurred to her that this was the most serious way she'd heard him speak. Silverhawk turned around slowly and obligingly in an innocent manor.

"Yeeees Pippin?" she inquired. Mara could easily picture her batting her eyes flatteringly behind her sunglasses.

"One; don't do that. Two;" he held out one hand askingly, "the eye."

"Why, whatever do you mean, heart-brother?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Heather; give me the Gate Lord's eye."

"You mean you don't trust me with it? Oh, now I'm hurt. You hurt me. How could you? Daddy?"

"I don't trust you not to do something stupid. Like charge the Heart of the Black Garden alone without any backup."

"OH! I am _offended_ that you would _ever_ suggest I'd do such a thing!"

"We both know perfectly well that was what you were planning to do; now hand it over before I use my oh-so-superior height to take it from you by force. _Now_."

Dragging her feet childishly, Silverhawk went up to him and lazily plopped the eye into his waiting open hand. Martin nodded with satisfaction, clipping the small bag to his belt.

"That's more like it." almost like an afterthought, he leant in to wrap his arms around her, nearly lifting the considerably smaller woman off the ground a little. "Try not to get squished out there, okay? I'm all for pancakes, you should know, but I'd hate to see you flattened into one by Minotaurs."

Silverhawk, muffled by Martin's shoulder, said something that sounded along the lines of "I miss being the taller one", before breaking away from him. She punched him on the shoulder.

"Try not to crash my precious, will you? One scratch, and you're repainting the whole thing." She informed him haughtily.

"Silverhawk, the paint is already scratched by your road rage from earlier."

"Touché. Goodbye."

With that, Silverhawk whirled, purposefully flaring her cloak, and sped off in the direction Mara had run from with predator-like grace. For a few moments, Martin watched her go, leaning out of his seat, twisting around to watch her disappear, brow creased with urgent worry.

 _Ah... so that is why he is in the field._ He stayed with his heart-sister. Thoughts of her rash brother flashed through her mind. Ever since the knife to the throat incident three years ago, she'd kept him close, restricting his movements into the field. He hated her for that. But she found it necessary, for herself. Perhaps it was selfish. Perhaps it was reasonable.

Perhaps she was no different than Guardian Anton. They just seemed to have different ways of going about it. She bound her sibling in tethers and red tape, and Martin followed his into the most dangerous place in space-time.

Mara Sov had no such luxury for an option. Royalty must do as royalty always does; rule her people. She could not afford such risks. Nor could she afford to lose Uldren; as much as he was her deadliest general, as elite a spymaster as he was, he was still her little brother, and her only family.

She'd lost too much family already.

She gripped the handles on the extension tightly, leaning forwards towards the heat of the Warlock in front of her as ice continued to press at her being and pain throbbed in her leg. Martin turned back to face the path ahead, and put the Sparrow on the trail for the way out.

With that, they began to move.

* * *

 **I feel like I may have disappointed with the T-Rex fight. Let me know what you thought of it.**

 **alienraptor: Raspoot'n? We're... uhh, he really just kind of sits in the corner being his brooding, Russian self in this series. Glad you're enjoying!**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: I know, little one. I know. To the people who were disappointed by RoI, they probably forget, it's a DLC like HoW and DB, not a full on mega-installment like TTK or Destiny 2. Compared to the other DLC's before TTK, RoI is the juiciest, best one yet. #can'twaitforEfrideet.**

 **Order and Chaos: It's meant for humor factor. if everything I wrote was within the realm of reality, this would get very boring very fast. it's funny how I got your review... right as I was writing the velociraptor scene! Also, I've been trying to take care to punish speelcheck and view my work with a critical eye in lue of your capitalization point-outs. The grimiore was magical; I think I liked Gheleon's the best. I could totally see the other Iron Lord's making the "ditto" face after he says those last few lines, LoL. And in Timur's... I could see him doing the "everywhere" Buzz Lightyear meme with Felwinter. I found it interesting that Felwinter's described as skinny(and look at his statue, he was NOT a very big guy!) and an exo. Why would Bray built a shrimpy Exo?**

 **Guest: Well, someone owes you.**

 **sovietshadow: Hehe, I never bother with email; I just log on to fanfic and check my favorites list! I don't think Silverhawk would ever be able to kill a thing with her deathtouch; if you've read 15 Seconds(SPOILERS), you'll know she was kind of traumatized when she accidently killed her first caretaker.**

 **Alrighty, people; this is it. I can feel it. This is where we hit 50 reviews; it's gotta be. So please, let's try to hit 50 before next chapter comes out! That would be blazing! I wouldn't have updated today, but I'm still feeling extremely cheerful from a weekend spent playing RoI. Oh, and speaking of reviews; I updated _15 Seconds_ and _A Tale of Grandeur_ the day after RoI came out, and I've only got one review between the two of them. Obviously, either all my followers are too busy playing RoI to read, or something is wrong with the review receptor(it's happened to me before). So please; if you remember reviewing 15 Seconds, go check and see if it actually uploaded. **

**Cuz lets face it; you can't do what I did to Tevis and _not_ get a reaction out of it. Fanfiction, I _swear_ , if you're glitching again... grrrr...**

 **RISE OF IRON IT'S SO FREAKING BLAZING EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

 **Alright, so, I still feel like the T-Rex fight scene was a little lack-luster, perhaps because this is in writing and not a CGI blockbuster, but let's try to hit 50 reviews for Heartbusters! A _momentous_ occasion that will be celebrated, perhaps, with a one-shot or (finally) completion of Flight to Freedom and/or Petra's Face is Hilarious. 50!**

 **Next Time: Uldren isn't feeling too hot, Martin goes into self-sacrifice mode, and Silverhawk does a bad, bad thing.**

 **Cheers!^^**


	8. Storm The Keep

**Step Eight: Storm the Keep**

 ** _"No, I'm not impressed. The Prince is an idiot. What he did was incredibly stupid. Sole heir to a throne should not have risked his life trying to get back the rightful crowned. Could have sent the Reef into chaos. Damned idiot. Should've considered his priorities."-Lyse Ravenwood_**

* * *

He was a blazing bonfire of anger. The grief would come later, once he knew for certain.

For now he really just wanted to punch something. Repetitively. He was thinking, perhaps his own head would do. It was still throbbing. And, as they came up on the rise looking down on the Gate, an odd, sudden flash of dizziness overtook him for a split second, and he felt like an entire glacier ran down his spine.

Either the twins didn't notice his sudden reach for a nearby boulder, and the swift, rapid shake of his head, or they assumed it was something having to do with the stress of his missing sister being thrown inside the Black freaking Garden of all places. They planted themselves behind some rocks, and he did the same, discretely taking out his knife.

Looking at his reflection, he saw his eyes were burning brighter than normal, though gradually fading back to their usual steady glow. _Mara?_ Had she tried to contact him? It had felt like it; he hadn't been trying to use his powers. But the connection wasn't meant to exhaust the person on the receiving end; it had never done _that_ before. Was there something wrong with her?

 _Perhaps she was trying to break the same block I encountered earlier?_ Such a barrier of nothingness could not have been broken through so easily. Or maybe she'd already broken it, and his own symptoms were simply a side effect of her trying to contact him while exhausted?

For a few moments, he considered trying again to reach out to her, but his head was still reeling from the strange occurrence. He got the feeling that if he tried to use his powers now, he might pass out. His mind traveled back to the incident where he'd put himself in a coma after accidentally disintegrating a small Cabal fleet.

And he did not need any more weird questions about the powers that came with his heritage. Plus, passing out would not look good on the pride and dignity side of things, not to mention put him at a severe disadvantage on the fighting side of things. So, though it ached to do so, he cast the idea of reaching out to her aside. _Sorry, Mara; there's too much at risk._

He was in a bad fighting condition enough as it was. His head hurt, he was exhausted by the heat and lack of sleep, and to top it all off, he was now shaking as his entire body felt like it was made of ice. There were still spots dancing at the edges of his vision. His throat was parched and scratchy, and his body was tired of the heat and desperate for warmth at the same time.

He'd fought in worse conditions. The mission for the cure included. He sidled up to the two Guardians discretely, trying to control his shivering. Alf brought his binoculars down, and handed them to Uldren so he could look.

"We got four Minotaurs, two Hobgoblins, and a Hydra in play. Looks like a patrol." he informed as Uldren brought the binoculars up to his own eyes, holding himself stock still. He glared through the lenses at the Vex, a snarl pulling at his lips. _Damn killbots._

"Lets kill them." he told the brothers. "But wait until they start to leave. They'll open the Gate to go back into the Garden, and that's when we go after them."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's try to get as close as we can so we can follow." Ethan agreed, nodding. Uldren returned Alf's binoculars, and together, the three of them slunk down the rise, alongside the cliffs.

The Prince of Crows could relatively copy the fluid stealth of the Hunter, but Ethan was hopeless with any sort of grace. Uldren winced at each sound the Titan's heavy armor made. _How the heck are we supposed to get close with him making all that racket?_ He was surprised they hadn't been sensed already by the Vex.

Close to the ruins they stopped, all crouching. They were in the shade, but the sun-baked part of the sands was so close, it was incredibly tempting for him to step out into the light and warmth. Earlier, the shade had offered little to no difference in temperature from the full light, but now that his blood was filled with ice, he longed to tip his face up to the sun.

Instead, he crouched alongside Alf and his clumsy, armor-clad brother, waiting patiently for the Vex to open their Gate again. They didn't have to wait long.

"Go, go, go!" Alf yelled. The three of them rushed forwards into the light. It made no difference in the coldness that had gripped him, and he took his hand cannon out of his holster as they ran up the steps.

Ethan stopped to shoot a Minotaur, sliding up to it and pulling the trigger twice, the close-range shotgun round blasting the Vex to pieces. Uldren took aim and killed one of the Hobgoblins before it could go through the gate, and he leapt into the swirling white after Alfie.

He endured a sensation that was about as pleasant as falling off the Certech building. When he was spat out into the open again, feeling quite a bit more nauseous for the experience, he was greeted with the sight of the Hydra and other Minotaurs, as well as the last Hobgoblin. He lifted his gun, fighting the urge to keel over and/or vomit, and shot it in the abdomen, causing it to collapse in on itself an die.

Alf was already on the other side of the room, trowing a grenade at the Hydra to distract it while Uldren got his bearings right. Decidedly portal-sick, to add to his dizziness, he rolled to the side as one of the Minotaurs fired at him, avoiding the blow.

Ethan charged out of the portal, getting thrown onto his side, tripping over himself by the sudden warp. Uldren ran to the sidelines, trying to take cover in his new, mossy, rocky surroundings and recover his breath. He backed against a pillar sticking out of the wall, and fired at one of the Minotaurs several times. One of them loomed over the disoriented Ethan, and the Titan rolled over at the last second, avoiding a stomp on the chest. Aiming his shotgun, he destroyed it like he had it's brethren earlier.

Uldren put his hand cannon in it's holster, and took his rifle off his back, aiming for the Hydra, which was trying-and failing- to get at Alfie, who was just too fast for it to hit. He didn't see Ethan take care of the last Minotuar.

The Hydra turned in the Reef prince's direction, the shield rotating around it open near it's eye. He fired repetitively, and it shook and swerved in mid-air as each bullet hit it's mark. Ethan threw a grenade over it's shield before it could fire at Uldren, and it turned to shoot at the Guardian instead, leaving it's back open to Alf and himself.

They both fired, and the damage became too great for the Hydra to handle. it spun out of control as a bullet did in it's hovering systems, and the creature of metal began to self-destruct.

As it went down, however, it spun right in Alf's direction. The Hunter's eyes widened, and he ran for cover, but it was already too late. The Hydra exploded, and Uldren thought he saw blood blossom on Alf's right side as he was thrown against the wall of the cave.

"ALFIE!" Ethan screamed, rushing forwards.

 _This... is not good._

* * *

Alf grimmaced with pain as his brother tightened the bandage around his abdomen. His helmet now removed, it revealed his face to be human, roughly approaching middle-age, with a square jaw, gray-green eyes, and short-cropped sandy blond hair.

"Careful, brother; it took me a while to get this six pack going. Abs like these don't grow on trees, you know." the Hunter tried to joke, though his voice rang with pain. Uldren was taking the opportunity to sit down while Ethan adressed his wounded twin. He was pretending to sharpen his knife with feverish tenacity, when in reality he was trying to get his nausea under control.

 _Pull youself together, Uldren._ He snapped at himself inwardly. _You have a job to do, a task to complete; don't let a little headache and some portal sickness stop you._

He flicked his shoulders, sitting taller and fighting back the weakness. The area around him would give even the most experienced scout the creeps. The whole place just screamed out at him not to be here, and his instincts wailed at him to leave. There was a sense of _wrongness_ about everything in this Garden.

Not just physically, with the treeless floating leaves and the eirry green glow, but the air itself seemed to press in on him, making it harder to breath or think or do much of anything. He supposed that was the result of the Darkness festering in the Heart of the Garden.

And Mara was in here somewhere. Was she still alive? He had to scour the cave, look for signs of a trail. It would be hard to find one, what with the battle that had just taken place messing up all the evidence. It would be hard, but he could do it . He could-

"Hey." A nudge from Ethan snapped him out of his thoughts. "You okay?"

"No." Uldren snorted."I just got tossed through a hole in space/time. My sister is trapped in a Vex-infested cesspool of Darkness, and now we're down a man. No, I am not 'okay'."

If Ethan was offended by his tone of voice, Uldren couldn't see it through his helm. "I meant physically. You've been acting odd."

Uldren let out a dry laugh. "What would you know about 'odd' and 'normal' for me? Quit pretending you know things you don't. Tend your sibling, prepare to establish a camp. I'm going to find Mara's trail."

He got to his feet, ignoring the spots that danced in his vision, and strode past the Titan with purpose in his steps. He was feeling a little better than he had been. He approached the spot where they had roughly came in from. He froze, crouching down, as he spotted a dark blot on the floor.

The moss was torn, perhaps from their own entry, but it was Awoken blood without a doubt, and he felt something inside him twist and rear it's head in roaring rage. So, Mara _was_ wounded. _Damn Tay!_

He could see a rough trail leading in the direction of the only exit, and the thin hope that she would be hiding in one of the caves that dotted the room faded. He'd been hoping she'd have been unconscious or deep asleep in one of them.

 _Things are never that easy._ He chided himself. There were a few other droplets of blood scattered in the area, in the direction of the tunnels, but some around the room as well. He checked a curios spatter on the back wall, and wondered where it had come from before finally registering the stinging pain on his neck, just under his jaw.

Aside from Alf, he'd been closest to the exploding Hydra; he must've gotten hit by some shrapnel, and this theory was confirmed when he noticed the chink of metal embedded in the rock next to the splatter of his own blood. He pinched it between his thumb and a finger, and tossed it to the ground with a sneer, insulting that which had injured him. He reached up that same hand to feel the cut, and stared at the red-purple liquid that now stained his glove.

There wasn't a lot of it, thankfully, though he could feel beads of blood running down his throat annoyingly. He wiped them off with the back of his hand to relieve the sensation, and tried not to think about the day three years ago when he'd nearly bit the dust for good, and he found himself subconsciously tracing the scar on his neck. He'd spent the months following his recovery adapting his fighting style to better protect his throat; he wouldn't be caught off guard like that again.

Then, his thoughts drifted to the sensation of Mara using her powers to keep him alive. His heart forced to keep beating, his brain forced to keep working, all the while his body screaming torturedly for death. While one's survival instincts usually were against death, he'd traded those instincts in for a desire to die the moment she started doing _that_. He'd wanted to scream at her to let him go, so unnatural it had been. Ever since that day, he sometimes, very rarely, couldn't shake the feeling that he was living a half-life of sorts.

Could he do something like that? To save her, if it came to it? Did he even have the mental capacities to save someone? The mere though of Mara being that wounded sent a violent shudder rolling up his spine. _It won't come to that. It_ can't _come to that._

He brought his hand down, and strode in the direction of the tunnel entrance. Ethan was still tending to his brother. Bessy and Groot hovered alongside their respective Guardians, and as he approached, Bessy zoomed up to him angrily.

"Great plan, genius! Now Alf is wounded, and we don't know the way out of here!" she yelled at him, voice surprisingly loud for a being of her size. Anger flared up inside him.

"I had nothing to do with the direction the Vex happened to blow up in!" he snapped back at her angrily. He didn't like attitude in his inferiors, be they Crow, Guardian, Awoken or Ghost. "So what if he's wounded? He's right here. Mara is wounded, and we have no idea where she is; get your priorities straight."

She walked past her, the two Guardians watching them, Alf looking mildly offended, Ethan emotionless behind his helmet. Bessy whirred angrily, and charged into the back of his head full force.

"WELL EXCUSE ME MISTER HIGH AND MIGHTY!" He kept walking, eyes trained on the ground, looking for Mara's trail, ignoring the Ghost. She made another angry sound. "JUST WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?"

"Where else, you blind robot; I'm looking for my sister while you all sit around complaining. Because apparently, you're about as competent as the last set of Guardians I worked with." he turned to fix his golden glare on them all. "They were both idiots."

He was hungry, tired, parched, cold, and had the headache of a lifetime. His nerves were at their limits. If all he found was a corpse, he didn't know what he would do with himself. Admittedly, the twins were much more competent than Silverhawk and her bumbling Warlock companion.

"Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to finish what I started." Without waiting for Bessy's rage-filled response, he turned and left, walking with purpose. He wasn't about to let someone else's wounds slow him down. Every second they wasted here cost Mara a second of life. Would she still be alive, after all this time?

 _She has to be._ He refused to walk out of here with a dead body cradled in his arms.

* * *

He didn't make it far before noticeing a pattern. Scuff marks in the stone, like something metal had scrapped against it. Rips in the moss, as if something had caught on it. There was a pattern to it that didn't look Vex. Now away from prying eyes, he allowed himself to shiver from the coldness that was still pressing in on him. It was fading now, gradually, but he was still chilled to the bone, and his head still throbbed.

His stomache had also calmed down, and was complaining loudly about the lack of food. He hadn't eaten since dinner the previos night; he hadn't had the chance to grab breakfast before rushing to the docks and chasing after Tay.

Which only added to the anxiety of his hunt. He kept hearing shadows and Vex. Though his eagle eyes scanned the ground, he moved at a rapid pace. Mara was in here somwhere. He had to find her before something else did. She could be running or fighting for her life right now.

He was beginging to consider if he was well enough to try reaching out to her again when he heard it. A whirring, like an engine struggling to work. It was coming from between the wall, in the corners of the Vex stone.

Taking out his hand cannon, he stalked along the wall, prepared to fire at whaever Vex was waiting for him. He braced himself at the crack, and whirled, gun pointing into it to find...

A malfunctioning Sparrow.

"What the Saturn?" he muttered to himself, lowering his weapon. _How did a Sparrow get in here?_

The vehicle was on it's side, thrusters sputtering. His eyes froze on the sack that was strapped to the back of the vehicle. He recognized it all too well.

 _Martin's Deathening sack._ This could only mean one thing, one thing that he wasn't sure filled him with rage or hope or confusion or giddiness.

Silverhawk and Martin were in the Black Garden. Their quest for the Gate Lord's Eye; how could he have forgotten? Why hadn't he considered this beforehand? They were probably well ahead of him; perhaps ahead of Mara as well. Were they dead? Was that why this vehicle had been left to die on it's own in a Vex wall?

It wouldn't suprise him in the slightest if he found Martin's corpse somewhere in these ruins. Maybe Silverhawk would still be alive; she was an idiot, but he was incompetent; at least the former possesed, he admitted begrudgingly, some level of skill.

 _If Subject Zero goes anywhere_ near _Mara..._ It had taken a few moments for him to remember what Silverhawk was. As an Awoken/Human hybrid, thus far the only one know to have ever existed, her genetics had been perfect for a Certech project known as Project Zero; aka, human weaponization by means of some form of radiation that Uldren neither understood nor wanted to get any more familiar with.

From what he'd gleaned from Crow Himalay's gathered intel on the project, before Silverhawk came along, Certech had made a slaughterhouse trying to perfect the injection process. All the subjects had died.

Until they slaughtered an entire village just to retrieve one child; the child of an Awoken and an Human. Seven-year-old Heather Chancellor... who would someday, hundreds of years later, come to be known as Silverhawk, a woman he despised. While he possessed _some_ level of minor sympathy for the monstrous things that Certech had done to her, her snarky, overly-cheerful, unrealistically childish behavior had seeded within him a deep hatred of her mere presence.

It wasn't just her behavior, though. The worst part about Cerech's experiments on her was that, in the end, they had worked. Silverhawk killed anyone or anything she touched the instant they made skin contact.

His hatred of her was based on fear as well. Fear of what she could do, even by accident. He didn't want her anywhere near Mara. His shivering increased with a violent shudder. He both hoped for and hoped against the possibility of Mara being found by them. Silverhawk was an idiot, and Mara was wounded; would the Huntress drag his sister along for the battle against the Heart. _I have to stop those two imbeciles! Before they get Mara killed!_

He turned and ran down the corridors. He had to get out of here, find a place where he could get a better veiw of the area. He had to find the heart, cut the idiots one and two off before they could reach it. He would have to be fast; fast as a Bladedancer on a suger high kind of fast.

But as it turned out, speed was not necessary, as when he rounded the next corner, it was to see Martin sloppily guiding Silverhawk's monstrous Sparrow... with Mara sitting on the back extension. She looked exhausted, and her shoulders drooped tiredly. Even from here, he could see that her eyes were not burning as brightly as they should have been. She had a set of scarlet Warlock robes draped over her shoulders, and she was shaking slightly. _DAMN DELLA TAY TO CROTA'S THRONE WORLD!_ His mind roared.

Martin, too, looked worse for wear. There was a long cut on the left side of his face, bleeding everywhere, and he looked strange without his robes on, just in his tunic and a force-protective vest worn over it.

Anger sparked through him whe he saw the state his sister was in. But she was breathing, _alive_! That knowledge alone made him feel worlds better, and he once again forced himself to stop shivering. There was no sign of Silverhawk, but judging by the fact Martin wasn't blubbering like a baby, she was probably still alive somewhere, perhaps nearby. He was both relieved and disappointed by this.

"Mara!" he called out. His sister's head shot up in his direction so fast the Queen may have given herself whiplash.

* * *

 _Uldren!_ Standing there from on high, bold as the sun, was her little brother. His gold eyes were ablaze with both anger and joy, though he looked a little paler than usual. His gun was out, and there was a cut on his _neck_ , which made something inside her blaze and roar with unrelenting fury.

Martin let out a sort of strangled squeaking sound, jumping backwards slightly. Mara dismounted the Sparrow as her brother climbed down the Vex stone to meet them.

"Hey!" Martin protested as she limped to her brother as fast as her wound would allow. Martin's robes fell off her shoulders, but she didn't notice, nor did she care. A split second later, or maybe it was less than that, Uldren's arms were wrapped around her in a rare moment of affection.

He was safe. She was safe. And now the Reef, and her people, were in more danger than ever before. She took a deep breath, hands gripping her brother's shoulders. Right now, they were not Prince and Queen, not General and Commander, but merely two siblings finally re-united after a day in hell.

"Damnit, you're cold!" was what he said next. He un-did the clasp that held his cloak affixed around his neck, and wrapped the black fabric around her shoulders. It wasn't as warm and didn't cover as much as Warlock Anton's robes did, but it felt better, more natural and familar. Far more comforting that the robes of any stranger would ever be. Now came what she said next.

"What in the name of the Harbringers are you doing here!?" he demanded. He made a miffed sort of snort noise.

"Rescuing you. You're welcome, by the way."

"'You're welcome'!? Uldren, you could very well have gotten youself killed."

"Heir or not, I would have come here. There's nothing you can or could have said to stop me."

"As nobel as that seems, you have higher priorities!"

"You're my sister! What 'higher priority' is there?"

"Your duty to our people!"

"My duty is to protect you."

"That is the duty of my guards."

"And I don't count as a guard?"

"COME HERE YOU STUPID MACHINE!"

Their heads snapped up to where Uldren had been just a few moments before. Looking around, she saw that Martin had gone while they were arguing. There was aloud crashing sound, and the noise of thrusting engines filled the air.

They followed the sound, Uldren helping her up the stone, to see Martin wrangling what looked like a feral Sparrow. The was a look of deep panic etched into his features as he used one fist to pound at the vehicle's controls. He had taken up his robes agains, and they had been hastily tied about his waist.

"What are you doing, moron?" Uldren sneered questionlingly.

"I'm going after Heather!" Martin replied boldly, giving the Sparrow one last punch before the machine settled on the ground. He looked Uldren hard in the eyes, a move deemed unwise by most. "Not that you care! You hate her, you hate us both!"

"She claimed she would return to wherever we set up camp." Mara reminded him. Martin reached behind himself and pulled out the now-empty pouch that had held the Gate Lord's eye. He let it drop to the ground.

"Rule number one about working with Silverhawk. She _always_ lies." he claimed shakily. His knees were shaking, and he gripped at his wrists and hands with unconstrained distress.

"What purpose would she have to trick you?" Mara inquired. "She would not face the Heart alone?"

"Of course she would!" Martin exclaimed. "Heather is a blockhead! She'd jump into a volcano if she thought it would save one life!"

 _Blockhead?_ She didn't try to understand the City slang.

"Exactly what are you two talking about?" Uldren questioned, arms crossed irritably. He looked strange without his cloak.

"I'm talking about Heath- Silverhawk stealing the Gate Lord's Eye to fight the Heart alone like the reckless Hunter she is! Not that _you_ care!" Martin accused, swinging himself onto the Sparrow, checking his gear quickly, as well as the russet sack that was strapped to the back of the vehicle. "You'd better hope we win, by the way."

"And why is that?" her brother sneered dangerously. Uldren didn't like attitude. She was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with his attitude towards Martin. The young Warlock was described by Uldren as incompetent, but he seemed fairly intelligent to her, though his battling skills left something to be desired and she probably wouldn't want her life in his hands if it came to a perilous situation.

"Because, killing the Heart is the only way to pull the Garden into normal space/time. To smaller minds; the only way we're getting out of here." The Warlock met Uldren's golden, blazing glare with uncharacteristic bravery. _Oh, dear Harbringers, he_ didn't _just say that?_

"What did you just say to me!?" Uldren snarled, taking one step dangerously as Martin took a helmet out of the sack on the back of the Sparrow, and slipped it over his head with the visor still open. It was ornate, with a sort of fin running from the forehead backwards. He leant forwards on his vehicle, ignoring the Reef Prince's angry question.

"You have your sister; now I'm going to stop mine from getting herself killed." he said, before kicking on the thrusters. The Sparrow took off back the way he and Mara had come, albeit sloppily.

Uldren glared after him indignantly, and Mara watched him leave with a frown. The air felt... emptier, somehow, with the flickering hum of the young Guardian's albiet feeble, stunted Light. She shivered, and pulled Uldren's cloak around herself tighty, her leg throbbing, though less so than it would have been if Martin had not treated it.

Her brother, noticing this, put one hand on her shoulder to lead her away.

"Come on; we set up camp this way." He said as she turned obligingly. _We?_ She decided she was too tired to ask. She was a little upset about his treatment of Warlock Anton, but she was too tired to scold him right at this moment.

She felt a trickle of sadness in her heart as she walked away, knowing full enough well that there was no way somebody with battle skills like Martin Anton's could survive a battle with the Heart of the Black Garden.

* * *

Silverhawk crept alongside the walls, eye scanning every crack, every detail of the immobile Vex that littered the walkways, searching for any sign of life, and her hand placed firmly on the handle of Ol' Reliable.

 _Walk'n round the creepy hallways, walk'n round the creepy hallways, walk'n round the creepy hallways..._ she looked up.

"Hey Westley, what time is it on Earth?" she asked out loud.

"About five thirty in the morning. Why?"

 _...at five-thirty in the morning._ She finished, satisfied with how good the words fit in with the tune of "what do you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning?"

"Nothing. Just curious." she told him, humming the tune to herself as she slunk along the halls. Turning a corner into a hallway that let out into the open, she froze as a loud, rhythmic sound filled the air.

 _Clunk, thunk, clunk, thunk, clunk, thunk, clunk, thunk._

Creeping closer to the exit, she came up on the right-side wall, and peeked around the corner.

It was Vex. Hundreds of Vex, all marching in order along the other side of the wall she was backed up against. She pulled her head back, heart pounding . She flatened herself against the wall as the Vex began to turn, marching right past the entrance of the hall in a never-ending crowd of solders.

She took out Ol' Reliable and held it with both hands, bringing it up to her face, finger on the trigger and ready to fire the moment she had to take aim. She took several deep breaths, terror pulsing through her. She heard Westley make a few reassuring whiring sounds in an attempt to calm her, but all it did was make her feel more lonely. She closed her eyes.

 _I sent him away to protect him._ The Heart of the Black Garden is no place for a Warlock like Martin Peregrine Anton. No matter how many times she had said this in her mind over the past quarter hour, she still felt like an utter failure; like a warrior heading into battle when they had glimpsed the future and known they were going to die. And she probably was; at least if she did, perhaps it would make the Heart think the threat had been neutralized, at least for a little while; it would give Martin and the Queen some time, at least.

Like she should not have sent him away. Like she was regretting saving him. And that's what hurt most of all; the selfishness. All she could hope was that him and the Queen would live long enough for more capable Guardians to come and kill the Heart. She shut her eyes tighter, fighting back the tears.

 _Please, please be safe. Please don't die, Martin. Please... make it worth while._

* * *

 **So, Silver's in self-sacrifice mode. Martin most certainly does not approve. And WEEE! We reached 50 reviews! Yay!**

 **Guest: She's talking about Uldren's irrational emotional tendencies. As we can see, he becomes very rude and risky when he's put under extreme stress.**

 **Sovietshadow: I loved "Meet the Robinsons". One of the best movies EVER. And I think the Queen is more of a pancakes person, to be honest. The Kell of Waffles can keep his favorite pastries all to himself; I think the only one he'll actually have to share with is Martin.**

 **alienraptor: Perhaps it's your name that gives you a sixth sense or something, LoL.**

 **FeiryWarlock: Alas, I cannot block readers. I don't think that function exists yet, LoL.**

 **MaybeALittleBroken:*bows sloppily* I'll be here till thursday!**

 **Order and Chaos: Did you notice the Meet the Robinsons reference? The Minotuar fight is going to be frabjous, blazing, all those happy things!**

 **Amberstar of Thunderclan had some ideas for a series of short stories about the Iron Lords, and then went off about how none of the RoI characters are listed in the Fanfiction archive yet. You'd expect at least for Shiro-4 to be there by now, but no. Well, I guess Variks isn't on there yet either,a nd he's been around for years... WE MUST FIX THIS!**

 **Submit for Uldren, Shiro, Efrideet, VARIKS mostly, Amberstar's going through a Felwinter fetish for some reason so request him too, thank you fanfiction readers PLEASE! it is driving Uldren crazy that he's listed as "Crow" and not his real name! I'd tell you guys how to submit for a character, but I've been told multiple times and still can't reatain the information because I'm so scatterbrained and my PM box is fill with so much junk! I got a 70-something part conversation with MaybeALittleBroken going on in there, and half of it is about stuff like kitten antics or how dumb waffles can be at tapdancing or how magical Variks is being!(?!)**

 **Next Time: The final battle begins, and Martin breaks out the Captain America references!**

 **Cheers^^!**


	9. Make The Choice

**Step Nine: Make the Choice**

 _ **"I believe now that my brother and Warlock Anton are more alike than Uldren cares to admit. That, I know in my heart, is why he did what he did... even if it was against my wishes."- Queen Mara Sov**_

* * *

She had fought and snuck her way through the hordes of vex that had stood between her and the door. A Minotaur had nearly caught her in the face, breaking her sunglasses, which had left a cut beneath her left eye. She threw the broken pair to the ground outside, and took out her spare set from her side pouch, flicking them open and putting them on her face.

Her Ghost floated out from her hood, and scanned the floaty thingy that stood before the Gate.

"Well, the Heart should be just beyond here." he said shakily. "All we need is permission to enter; as a Gatelord."

She took the device from where it had been strapped to her waist, frowning as she noticed the shivery tiredness in his voice, like he was ill.

"You feeling okay, Ghost?" she inquired. There was a definite droop to his shell, and come to think of it, she wasn't feeling the best either. _But, I don't get sick! What's wrong with me?_

"It's the Darkness." he told her simply. "To me, and to Guardians... well, this could possibly be the closest feeling to that of sickness that _you'll_ ever get. Your genetic jackpot gave you a monster of an immune system. It's the Darkness; large concentrations of it tend to make Guardians and Ghosts feel ill."

She felt a shiver slip up her spine. "Well, I don't like it! Let's get going!"

She shoved the Eye into the slot, and is floated up into the air, lines forming all around it.

"I'm pretty sure there's some cheap joke about connect-the-dots here somewhere." she commented, trying to summon up a grin. But the Darkness seemed to press at her very body, forcing the expression down before it could start. Her head felt heavy, and it felt like she was swimming in the air. It was like every joy had been sucked out of her, and she would never be happy again.

The gate began to open, loudly, clunking banging through the air like gunshots. She watched it open, revealing a big, almost comical, floating blob hovering above what looked like a cut-in-half vex gate. A blast of the sick feeling overtook her, and for a moment, she thought she was going to vomit.

"Pure darkness..."her Ghost murmured, floating closer to her with a whir as they took in the sight of the massive... erm, mass.

"Well, here goes-"

"WAIT! HEATHER! WAAAIIIIIT!" _SNAPPLE CRACKS!_ She whirled around to see Martin scrambling up the stairs to meet her. She could see his Sparrow down below, left on its side.

"Martin, I told you to stay with the Queen!" she shouted, dread slamming into her and wailing internally. Martin couldn't do this! He couldn't suffer this kind of death... this was her fight, not his...

He ground to a halt in front of her, hands on his knees, supporting himself, gasping for breath. He had the Deathening strapped to his back, and he looked up at her with green eyes glinting. He was wearing his robes again, and he was wearing the Iron Banner helmet she'd managed to charm Saladin into giving him once. Though, now that she thought about it, the Iron Lord may have just relented to get her to shut up.

"Queen's...safe." he panted. "Uldren's here...I couldn't leave you to go by yourself, Heather..."

"Martin..."

"No! You...aren't talking me out of this one! I am not...running away this time! I'm a Guardian, too!"

"Dude, you _do_ realize this is a god we're fighting here?"

"They...they said Crota was a god too, but look what happened to him. Let's just face... it; the real God can't be shot at or killed. All these other guys are just a... bunch of galactic losers."

Silverhawk sighed, looking down at the ground. _I'm really not stopping him this time, are I?_ She pulled Ol' Reliable out of its holster, and Martin, still panting, lifted up his shotgun.

"We'll do this together, Heather. Like we always do." he said. She managed a smile, despite the Darkness. Turning, she stepped forwards, and Martin came up to her left side. She felt him take her hand in his, and together they looked at their foe, beckoning them forwards into it's lair.

"Well...ready to kill a god?" her Ghost asked, slipping over to her head before floating over to her other ear.

"There's only one God mam, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Martin commented, trying to crack a smile. Silverhawk felt a bit better at the sound of the reference.

"Dude, you are like, my hero with that reference." she told him.

"Thanks. And... maybe when this is all over, do you think maybe we'll be actual heros? I've never been a hero before..." he wondered out loud, before looking ahead again. She squeezed his hand.

"You're more of a hero than you think, Martin. You saved me. Now, we just... have to try and save everybody else." she told him. It was more true than he knew. He _was_ a hero, _her_ hero. Her big, idiot, brainless Warlock hero. He was always putting himself down; if only he knew how far high up he actually was!

"A-alright." he decided shakily. He offered a weak smile. "L-lets go kick these galactic losers off our lawn, right?"

"Right!" she grinned at him toothily.

Hand-in-hand, they stepped into oblivion, and the door began to shut behind them. The Darkness seeped outwards all throughout the Garden, seething all the way out into the place where two Guardians and two royal Awoken sat awaiting their fates.

* * *

It was like a sucker punch to the gut.

Uldren had at last been re-united with his sister. He still felt cold, hungry, tired beyond all belief. But the anxiety that had weighed heavy on his shoulders all through that day had been lifted away. She was safe at his side once more, draped in his cloak, shivering, pale, and hurt.

But _alive_.

They approached the area they had come through the Gate at. He could see and smell a fire going; one of the twins must have had a flame stick with them. Ethan stood up as they approached. Alfie was still propped up against the wall, near the fire, beads of sweat on his face and a dark splotch on his side where his blood had darkened the bandages his brother had wrapped him in.

Ethan had taken his helmet off, revealing him and Alfie to be near completely identical, if it weren't for the fact that Ethan, indeed had a scar of all things; a thin black mark, near his left eyebrow. A weapon had to be incredibly dark to leave a scar on a Guardian, so he guessed it had come from their battle with Crota. Such markings were known as Dark Burns, and they were very rare, usually acquired through battle with the Hive, sometimes the Vex. He'd once had a Crow get scarred by a Fallen as well.

"Well, that was fast." The Titan commented stiffly. He was probably still sour from Uldren's earlier outburst, for which he didn't feel sorry for.

"As it turns out, there was another fireteam in here." He informed. Ethan's eyebrows quirked up, and Alfie lifted his head tiredly with interest.

"Really? Who?" the Titan asked. Bessy hovered over his left shoulder, glaring at the Prince judgmentally.

"Silverhawk and her Warlock toy." Uldren said, causing Ethan's eyebrows to go higher, the thin scar stretching with his skin. He opened his mouth to speak... and then _it_ happened.

It hit them with a force that made Uldren stagger, and he had to hold Mara upright to keep her from falling over. Alfie took in a shaky gasp of pain, and Ethan reach for the wall to steady himself, one hand on his forehead. Darkness danced in his vision, and for a few moments, he thought he was going to pass out.

It was like… _something_ had leaked into the very air. It made the oxygen around him feel heavy and sticky, and sick. There wasn't enough air in the world for him to breathe right now, because the something seemed to dig itself into his chest, gripping his lungs and keeping him from sucking in air. His heart pounded in his chest like it was trying to burst out of his rib cage and escape from the force that was pressing in on him, constricting him, mocking him all the while.

The initial feeling passed gradually, and he took in shaking gasps of air. But the black force that had attacked them lingered on in the air, and everything had taken on a darker hue. A terrified gasp escaped Alf's lips.

"Crota!" he semi-wailed, lips quivering. Besides Uldren, Mara's shaking had increased, and he tightened his hold on her shoulder. Ethan shook his head, as if trying to shake off cobwebs. Bessy hovered low at his shoulder, shell drooping as if she, too, felt incredibly ill. His every instinct screamed at him from every angle, warning of danger from every shadow and crack. His heart still pounded, and he couldn't suppress the shudders that kept rolling up his spine.

"No. Not Crota." Ethan corrected his brother, voice hoarse and tight with pain, as if he were ill. "Just Darkness. They must have challenged the Heart."

 _So, this is the Heart's doing?_ Silverhawk and Martin had actually done it. They were going up against the Darkest thing known to exist aside from Crota himself. _That means… this_ stuff _all around us, it must be the Heart flooding the place with Darkness._

He had encountered heavy Darkness before. In his line of work, it was unavoidable. He could still remember his first time, he'd still been new to the whole 'Crow' business; his father had headed the elite scouts at the time. Uldren had been tracking a lead on some Golden Age tech that could help enhance the Reef's oxygen barriers, and had tracked the tech to Earth's moon.

His father had given him an extensive pre-scouting debrief, warning him repetitively about the dangers of the Hive. Uldren had been much less cautious back then; he'd been young, and as just as cocky as any Hunter could ever be. He'd gone underground, and had found the tech successfully. But before he could return to the Reef triumphant, he'd encountered a legendary monstrosity that he hadn't realized, at the time, to have been there.

His father had warned him of Crota, of the Hive prince's commanders. But Uldren had been too caught up in himself to listen. So it ended up that he'd had to hide away in a crack in a wall, back turned and hood up, using his cloak to camouflage himself as what he would later learn to be called the Swarm Princes marched past with their followers, a massive sword hung between them all.

He'd returned to the Reef shaken from the experience, but had gained vital intel on the Hive none the less, even if he hadn't understood the purpose of this ritual. He'd felt a sensation similar to the one he'd just experienced, but this was on a whole different level, and he wasn't a greenhorn Crow anymore.

Fighting back the sick feeling, he led his sister over to the fire. She had said little to nothing since Martin's mad dash to Silverhawk, and he could tell by her face that she was simply too tired to speak at this point. _I_ swear _, when we get out of here, I'm going to rip Tay limb from limb when I find her!_

"The way I see it, the only thing left to do is wait. Because apparently," he couldn't keep the sneer out of his voice," the only way out is if those two nitwits succeed."

* * *

"Do you think we're supposed to do something?" Silverhawk whispered to her friend. The Vex were just _sitting there_ , worshiping king blob.

"I don't know." Martin whispered back, swallowing hard, grip tightening on his shotgun. Silverhawk lent down, fighting the urge to vomit, picked up a rock, and threw it as hard as she could.

"Heather!" Martin whined. The stone clucked against the back of one Vex, and they waited for several tense moments. She put her hands on her hips with a huff.

"Well, they're a lively bunch." She commented dryly. She took a bold, lazy few steps forwards.

The Vex stirred. One by one, their arms shifted out of the positions they had been in, and they all turned, still kneeling, to look at the two lights that had intruded on their domain under guise of one of their commanders.

"Silverhawk, they're all looking at us." Martin stated nervously out of the corner of one mouth, knees shaking with fear.

"Just picture them in their underwear." She deadpanned.

The Vex screeched, and they all gradually got to their feet.

"Should we go for the Heart or take out the Vex?" Martin asked her. Two Vex appeared just beside him. His eyes widened as he whirled around, and the Goblins screeched.

"Take out the Vex." Silverhawk told him. Two bangs went off as Martin fired his shotgun at them, blowing them apart. The sound of more Vex teleporting caught her ear, and she whirled around in time to stab her knife up the juice box abdomen of another Goblin. With the other hand, she fired Ol'Reliable, pumping the second Goblin's chest full of lead.

 _Staby, staby, bang bang, staby, staby, bang bang!_ She went inside her head, humming the little tune out loud as more Vex kept teleporting up to the broken stairs they were on. The Vex down below continued to fire up at them as well, and she got the feeling it would soon be time for a little doom and boom.

"Silverhawk, we can't stay up here forever! We can't get the ones down there, they're just-OW-going to keep shooting at us!" Martin called to her, yelping as a Goblin stopped on his foot before he could shoot it.

"Alright! Let's teach 'em how to dance!" Silverhawk declared. She took a running leap off the stairs, and reached inside herself to pull open the lid on the storm that raged within her always. Lightning sheathed itself around her, and the arc sped up her senses, her movements, her blades themselves as she pulled them from their sheaths.

She hit the ground running, and launched herself at the Vex, blades slashing. She cut several in half at the abdomen, dashing from point to point on the battlefield. Finding herself in a position where enemies were all around her, she leaped, twirling and letting the arc loose below her. It spread across the ground in a hungry wave, seeking out the Darkness and sending it screaming away in a flash of electric particles.

She landed, and charged again at several Hobgoblins. Her blades made quick work of them, and their rifles always missed. At last, she discharged the last of her arc, her senses still running high with lightning. She looked around herself, and then adjusted her fedora with a smirk. _No more Vex!_

"Hey, I killed them all!" she called to Martin from the central platform, waving her arms cheerily at him. On the stairs, he shrugged in exasperation.

"How am _I_ supposed to get down from here!?" he asked hopelessly, shotgun still in hand.

"Well, how about you jump." she suggested.

"Are you kidding me? From this high up! I'll sprain my ankle or something!" he shouted.

"Don't worry; I'll catch you! Just think of it as a trust exercise!" she called, running up to the stairs, and holding out her arms as if to embrace him as he fell, grinning broadly.

"The last time we did a trust exercise, you let me fall and I got a concussion!"

"...touché."

A strange noise behind her made her head turn. The Heart was doing something. Something really _not blazing_. She looked back up at her friend.

"Martin, Jump!" she urged him. Fearfully, the Warlock leapt, and she tried to cushion his fall as best she could.

This attempt was met with a blast of pain as he landed on top of her. Blazing _idea, Silverhawk! Let the 5"10 Warlock land on your 4"10 frame. Blazing._

"Sorry!" he yelped on top of her. She grunted as his knee dug into his back as he scrambled to get off of her. He helped her back to her feet, picking up his shotgun and straightening her fedora. They both looked up at the Heart, which had done a bad, bad thing indeed.

They watched as one of the statues began to move.

"Oh, sweet frabjous underwear." she exclaimed. The statue twisted, and stone broke away, a massive Minotaur striding out.

"Not good." Martin gulped beside her faintly.

* * *

If there was one thing the Prince of the Reef was bad at, it was waiting patiently. He could sit on stakeout in a cramped snipers nest for days on end with minimal food and water, but just plain waiting? No. Just... no.

He sighed and shifted his position again. His wiggling was starting to get on Mara's nerves, he could tell. She was laid down with his cloak wrapped wound her, head resting on a mossy boulder. There was no end to her tiredness, he could tell, and every time he looked at her, how pale she was, how much pain she was in, he seethed with rage. Images of brutal ways he could kill Tay flashed through his head, from cutting her limbs off before stabbing her through the heart, to full on disembowelment.

 _If we ever get out of here._ The stress of the Darkness pressing in on him was wearing his nerves thin. He'd had enough of a bad day already; this was the last thing he needed. Mara was too tired to care, she was on the edge of sleep, but he didn't know how much longer he could take it.

The waiting. The Darkness. The waiting. The Darkness. And always with the waiting, and always with the Darkness. Alf sat with his back against the wall, breathing heavily with fever, occasional whimpers escaping his lips, some of which sounded like things having to do with the Hive. Ethan poked at the fire with a knife, one hand clasped over his brother's.

Their auto rifles were propped against the wall. His eyes kept straying to the weapons. Silverhawk was an idiot. Martin was a looser. An idiot and a looser. What chance did an idiot and a looser have against the Heart of the Black Garden?

 _Perhaps they need a half-dead Crow as well._ he thought dryly. Actually, come to think of it... _would_ that be a good idea?

He wanted nothing more than to never see Silverhawk again. But though she might possess one iota of skill, Martin had none. They had no advantages over the Vex what so ever. He'd been fighting Vex half his life. He had trained from day one as one of the Reef's deadliest generals. He could take each of the Paladins on in hand-to-hand combat. Heck, he recently found himself wandering to the thought of challenging a Techeun.

Were he to join in the fight against the Heart... how much more would that increase their chances? Light and party tricks only went so far. And if they failed... the rest of them would be trapped in here. Alfie probably wouldn't be able to make it for much longer. Mara was in bad shape as well, though it seemed as if her leg had gotten a higher level of treatment than Alfie's side. They had little to no rations; he would give his to Mara if it came to it. How long could the healthiest of them survive in here, if Silverhawk and Martin failed?

 _Not long._ He realized. Their dive into oblivion would be all for naught. Mara would die, they all would. But if he and Ethan left Alf and Mara undefended... the Vex would close in before you could say "space urchins".

"What's your career?" he asked suddenly of Ethan, piercing the Titan with a studious gaze, assessing him.

"Defender. Why?" he answered briskly. Probably still bitter about Uldren's earlier behavior. _Defender. Suitable._

Like always, Mara read right through him.

"Don't you _dare_ , Uldren." she warned, with that 'obey me or die' look a Queen often found herself practicing. He ignored her, eyeing the auto rifles. _This is the only way, and you know it as well as I do, sister._

He stood up.

"What are you doing?" Ethan questioned, as Mara sat up angrily.

"Uldren Cavance Sov, you get back here now!" He suppressed a shudder and a childish whine as she shouted his middle name, but he picked up one of the rifles anyway.

"If she'd not alive when I return, you won't be for long either." he told the Titan, searing him with a burning gold gaze to make sure the message got across completely. Mara got shakily to her feet, staggering somewhat as she did so.

"You _will_ comply, Uldren. You're staying here." the tone of her voice implied there would be punishment later for disobeying. He would hand in his position as head of the Crows if it meant she got out of here safely. He... he would die facing the Heart if it meant she got out of here safely.

He still ignored her, even when she yelled his name as he ran back the way they had come. He would save her, even if it meant he had to die. He steeled himself against the Darkness, something inside him rearing and hissing at it as he ran. For the first time, it occurred to him that if they succeeded, Mara would be the first person ever to survive one of Della Tay's assassinations.

 _Tay's 'prize' will be rendered false. I wonder how she will come at me for ruining her hit?_ Assuming he survived this of course. Not to mention, his Crow drone had blinded her left side. In the back of his mind, he remembered that Petra Venj was blind on the left side as well. _I should spar with her a few times when I get the chance._

Tay would no doubt adapt her fighting style to accommodate her new complication. He could spar with Petra a few times, learn how she compensated, hopefully prepare himself for whatever techniques Tay might come up with, if it came to close combat with her. Grant it, fighting Della Tay would no doubt be quite different than fighting Petra Venj, but it would still be useful to have some experience fighting someone who was half blind.

Just because someone was minus an eye, that didn't mean they were any less of a fighter than they had been before. He couldn't afford to underestimate her. Tay was a survivor. He let out a snort of contempt.

 _I'm not sure if I'll live or die and I'm already planning for a fight with Tay!_

He stopped near the wall, close to the place he'd found Mara at, out of breath. He shook his head, blinking away spots. Still a little weak from Mara's earlier attempt at reaching him, it seemed. He pounded a fist on a stone. _Space urchins! I'll never get there in time at this rate!_

Still panting, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He double took. There it was; a way to go faster. So why did he let loose an internal groan?

 _Oh, damn._

* * *

Silverhawk rolled behind cover with Martin, taking in a sharp gasp at the pain that lanced through her shoulder as she did so. A blast had grazed her earlier, and as she came to a halt, her Warlock friend grabbed her by the arm and examined the wound quickly.

She had pulled out the Sparky Sparky Boom Boom Stick on the Minotaur that had once been a statue. Then, conveniently enough, the Heart had brought another statue to life! According to Westley, this use of power was weakening the Heart. There was one more statue left, and the second one was starting to get on her nerves.

"Silverhawk, I'm all out of ammo." Martin told her, eyes wide, indicating his shotgun. She looked down at Ol' Reliable and Hawkmoon. She had one clip of ammo for them left each. And the Sparky-Boom was out of ammo as well.

"Get the Deathening, and let's give 'em all we got left!" She told him fiercely. He took the sack off his back, and she gave him cover fire as he unfolded the Deathening and loaded it. _DIE you frabjously unfashionable buckets of bolts!_

Martin finished loading the Deathening, and their eyes met.

"It's been a good run, hasn't it?" he asked. "Even though I'm useless?"

"You've never seemed useless to me." she told him earnestly, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "And yeah. It's been the best run ever! Blazing!"

Martin took a deep breath, blinking and pale. She could tell, he was trying not to cry. She could see his eyes screaming, "I don't want to die", over and over again, endlessly. He dropped the Deathening, and wrapped his arms around her, shaking, both of them careful that their heads didn't make skin contact.

She shut her eyes for a fraction of a second, regretting more than ever not waiting for Tevis. _This is it. This is where we die._ She hoped that this time would be less painful than the last. She hoped she fell first, so that she did have to watch the light fade from Martin's eyes. She hoped to fall with a smile on her face and a cheer on her lips; her last laugh, in the face of the Darkness.

"I've enjoyed this, too, Heather Chancellor." Westley's voice came from her hood. "I never regret finding you. Never. Not in our darkest moments."

Suddenly, as something caught in her throat, there was a loud, booming, _bang_. She broke away from Martin with a small jump backwards.

"What the waffles!?" her friend exclaimed, both of them, and the Vex, looking in the direction of the sound. It had come from the Gate to the Heart's lair. Again, an earth-rattling _bang_ as something impacted the door, denting it heavily this time.

"Oh, sweet frabjous underwear."

* * *

 **I wasn't planning to update until next week, but this is a celebratory chapter. Celebrating what, exactly? I finished writing _Heartbusters_. That's right folks, it's 100% complete now. I'll be starting work on _Wolfsbane_ shortly, and lemme tell ya, it's going to be a doozy, with a few exciting new additions to our cast, including a very lovable but sometimes scary little Ghost who I haven't written about yet but already adore.**

 **Be sure to get hyped for a lot of Variks and the Reef gang! _Wolfsbane_ is going to be considerably different than _Fever_ and _Heartbusters_ , mostly because the focus isn't mainly on Uldren; it's getting to know Variks, Martin, and a few other's a bit more, and exploring the deeper sides to the Reef life that we haven't been able to explore yet. And seeing as Uldren had banned Silverhawk from ever stepping foot there, it will be a very new experience not having her as a constant presence. **

**Not that there won't be any Silverhawk in _Wolfsbane_ ; she actually goes on a rather lovely adventure with our favorite Nightstalker...**

 **FeiryWarlock: I'd appreciate it if you didn't take the Lord's name in vain in the reviews section; I'm a Catholic, and one of those curse-sensitive people, so please. Not to sound petty, or anything. And if you have a problem with that, pour all you insults out into a rude PM and leave it there so it stays out of the reviews.**

 **Order and Chaos: The tracks were caused by the Sparrows. And I've already finished the story, and it's a bit late to add in real live Daleks, so... as much as it kills me to say no... But fear not, shipper. Uldren _will_ be getting a love interest, though it _will_ be slow going. Amber and I are calling it the 'Crowwood v.s. Sovgers War of Desolation'. Or otherwise... Onion V.S. Mountain Smackdown. Get used to that 'Onion' thing; your going to be seeing it a lot once _Wolfsbane_ hits. Sorry to say, the Twins don't play that big a role. Originally, they were, but then I decided Brask, Tevis, and Cayde would be Silverhawk and Martin's childhood heros...**

 **Guest: Oh, a certain Ghost in Wolfsbane(the one I mentioned adoring) is going to knock you socks off, I think. I have a feeling everybody's going to love him. In my head, Wheatly sounds a little like Dincklbot, and Westley sounds like Nolandroid, though that Ghost I adore sound like Nolan, too; just with a bit of an accent. A british one. Subtle, but noticeable.**

 **This Is Sarcasm: I thought an eagle-eyed reader might mention that. I'ma say yes, we will be meeting Lyse Ravenwood. it's going to be a wild ride.**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: I know that feeling. I'm dead inside right now; I NEED to sleep. But I WANT to WRITE.**

 **alienraptor: Hunters are the master race. We can be suicidal, too!**

 **Ahhh, almost over. I'm a bit disappointing with how short this fic is coming up to be. It's barley over half as long as _Fever_. Well, enjoy Silver while you can, cause once _Wolfsbane_ hits, you're going to have to get your daily Hunter shenanigans fix from _15 Seconds_. Get hyped for Variks!**

 **Next Time: Be fresh. Be Frabjous. Become Legend. And Uldren still hates Sparrows.**

 **Cheers!^^**


	10. Become Legend

**Step 10: Become Legend.**

 ** _"Er, hi. Um, hi. Yeah... so, I'm Martin. I think you've heard of me by now. I think. you probably have by now, but it's alright if you haven't. L-look, I don't mean your weird or uneducated if you h-haven't heard of me by now, I-I-I'm just saying it's okay if you... uh... if... I can't do this!"- Martin Anton, Celebratory Dinner, not-quite-a-speach._**

* * *

"Die, you stupid machine!" Uldren banged on the controls. It was like Silverhawk's Sparrow had a mind all its own! He'd driven it all the way up here, now he couldn't figure out how to turn the darn thing off!

With a frustrated growl, his fist found a red button on the dash. There was a strange, loud beep, and a mechanical hiss and whir. Something snapped out the side of the vehicle. _What the?_

His internal question was answered when a rocket shot out of the new extension, and shot right into the Gate. He jerked backwards, covering his face with his arm.

"What the Saturn!?" he exclaimed, panting, heart hammering in his chest. _Hey! Wait a minute..._

He hit the button again. Another extension, another missile. One more would to the Gate in... he hit the button again, but there was a defiant clicking noise, and a frustrated groan escaped him. He leaned out on both sides, looking at the launchers; they seemed fairly simple to load. Surely, Silverhawk carried extra rounds on this thing?

He checked the side pocket, and, sure enough, found four rockets. He loaded one, and hit the bottom again.

The explosive projectile impacted the Vex metal, and the Gate was ripped open with shrapnel flying in all directions. As the smoke cleared, a section of twisted, melted metal fell to the ground from the frayed edges of the hole he had made.

He scrunched up his eyes, dreading what he was about to do next. Uldren wasn't one for flashy entrances. He wasn't one to charge his enemies on a vehicle like Silverhawk. But those things might be useful right now. Well, maybe not the flashy entrance but wha-

 _Oh, to heck with it all!_ With a scream, he kicked the Sparrow into high gear, all the while screaming mentally about how much he hated these machines, and he went flying through the air as the vehicle ramped off of a frayed, ramp-like edge in the destroyed door.

 _Oh, space urchins, oh, space urchins!_ He thought as himself and the Sparrow fell to the ground and kept going, slamming right into a Goblin. The was a massive Minotuar in the center of it all, and he swerve in an arch around it. _OH, SPACE URCHINS AND THRALL SPIT!_

He was starting to regret this idea very, very much. He brought the vehicle around, driving behind the cover of ruined walls to avoid driving off the edge of the platform… and nearly ran over Silverhawk and Martin. _THRALL SPIT!_

He slammed the breaks, and Martin screamed girlishly as the Sparrow skid to a sideways halt, a hair away from touching the Warlock. Uldren glared at him as he continued to scream until Silverhawk gave him a light whack up the backside of the head.

"Ahh, you _do_ care!" She cooed to the newly arrived Prince, pretending to be flattered.

"I didn't do this for _you_." He sneered. He'd hoped never to lay eyes on her again. She seemed not to have changed much; she was wearing the same kind of armor she'd been wearing for most of the quest for the cure, her fedora was still intact, though looking lightly singed, and despite the shadow-cast dim light of the area, she still wore her aviator sunglasses, behind which, he knew, sky-blue eyes burned just as bright as a pureblooded Awoken's would.

A shudder ran up his spine briefly as he remembered her deathtouch. _Stay as far away from her as possible._ Reason rang in his mind. Though hers were hidden behind black glass, their eyes locked as he dismounted the Sparrow.

"Once, Silverhawk." He told her. "I'll let you go. _Once_."

He'd sworn to kill her the next time he saw her. But that promise could not be met right now; he had higher priorities. As with all things, she didn't seem to care about this threat. Instead, she flicked her shoulder, as if to say she got the message, and cheerily skipped over to her Sparrow. He noticed her insane rocket launcher on the ground near where she'd been sitting.

"Okay, whatever! _Blazing_ entrance by the way; almost looked like a real Hunter!" he sneered at her as she pushed past him to get at the side satchel on her Sparrow. "You know, for such a supposedly intelligent race, you'd think that that Vex super-Minotuar deathbot would've thought to go _around_ the ruined wall by now, right?"

Uldren took the auto rifle off his back, ignoring her and shooting down a Hobgoblin that had rounded a corner, Silverhawk seemingly oblivious to this. Martin was still looking at Uldren with shock etched into his features, the Deathening gripped tightly in his hands.

"Y-you shouldn't be here! What about the Queen?" the Warlock stuttered. Uldren met his gaze with steady anger, remembering well enough the Warlock's attitude from earlier.

"There are two other Guardians, near where the entrance to the Garden comes out. She's with them." he explained before firing at another Vex, causing Martin to flinch.

""Well, that's good!" Silverhawk chirped from where she was loading the Sparky-Sparky Boom-Boom Stick. He looked back at the Sparrow, where she had been standing moments before. _What the_ **[redacted^^]** _?_ With a snap, she slapped the rocket launcher shut.

"Oi, Pippin; we gonna finish this party or what?" she addressed Martin, who looked up with a scowl, lifting the Deathening.

"Stop calling me that!" he protested angrily. Silverhawk grinned at him.

"Never gonna happen!" she assured him. Uldren reminded them they were in a middle of a battle by shooting another Vex. Martin and Silverhawk nodded at each other.

"Doom and boom." they agreed simultaniously. _Oh, space urchins. Can I get back on the Sparrow,_ please _?_

He _supposed_ he ought to lay down cover fire for them. Martin and Silverhawk rushed out of cover, and he shot at the smaller Vex while they took aim at the large Minotaur. The Sparky-Sparky Boom-Boom Stick's three barrels flipped out, electronics whirring.

"Doom-" Martin said.

"-and boom!" Silverhawk finished. She fired, and so did he. Uldren was momentarily destracted as the rockets hit and the bullets flew, striking the Minotaur square in the abdomen; a direct and successful hit.

This distraction was all the Vex needed. He barely managed to move in time to avoid a line rifle blast meant for his own abdomen. He grunted in pain as it grazed his side, burning through the wire woven fabric, dark red-purple welling up in the wound. _Thrall spit and space urchins!_

He turned and shot at the Vex, backing up behind cover until the shock of the wound wore off. _Forget this!_ He threw the auto rifle to the ground, and drew his hand cannon; so much more familiar in his hands. The dust from the explosions cleared, the Minotaur collapsing in on itself. Uldren shot another Vex, trying to ignor the new, stinging pain in his side.

"Whoo! Geronimo!" Silverhawk cheered as it went down. Martin kept fireing at the Heart as it sent out a blast of strange energy to a statue on the far side of the area. As the bullets hit, an eerry wailing seemed to spread through the air, as if the blob of pure Darkness was in pain. He hoped it was.

Martin's bullets ran out, and both he and Silverhawk ran back for cover, Silverhawk looking stupidly elated, Martin looking terrified on a level that was unusual, even for him. His internal question as to why was anwered when the stone broke away from the statue and revealed itself to be another Minotaur, even bigger and badder than the last one.

"Oh ****." Was all that came out of his mouth.

"Yeah, they're pretty nasty." Silverhawk agreed, dangerously close to his shoulder. He leaned away from her.

"Do you mind?" he asked nastily.

"No." she deadpanned. A blast of void energy dangerously close to them, and he swore internally and shut his eyes as it singed his armor, bits of rock flying up and scraping his face.

"We either need to kill that thing, or kill the Heart, fast!" Martin yelled as they backed further behind cover. The Minotaur went around the wall.

"Oh, so _now_ they're smart enough to go around the wall, are they!?" Silverhawk exclaimed. They all turned to go around in the opposite direction as the giant Minotaur, only to find a regular Minotaur taking aim at them.

Both Uldren and Silverhawk took aim at it over Martin's shoulders, and shot at it. Their bullets hit in the same place, resulting in a hole right through its chest, wires sparking. Silverhawk turned her head to grin at him broadly as it slowly fell over, dead.

"Great minds think alike, huh?" she commented, much to his distaste. A blast directly behind them sent them on their way, Martin screaming as they rounded the corner.

"You know, I think we should kill the Heart. I mean, if we all die cause of the Minotaur, at least we'll have done what we were supposed to do, right?" the Warlock yelled.

"Good plan! I'll distract it!" Silverhawk declared.

"Distract what?"

"The Thrall-butt Minotaur." she deadpanned, taking out her blades, her rocket launcher now abandoned on the ground. She grinned at Uldren. "I'ma be blazing now, so be sure to cover your eyes, or you'll be blinded by just how frabjous I can be."

His only response was a sneer; he was too sick and tired of this to come up with a viable retort. Silverhawk rushed out to meet the Minotaur, lightning sheathing itself around her as she did so.

"Let's dance, bucket-head!" she called as she went, running between its legs. Uldren fired at several Goblins that were trying to take aim at her as she ran. Martin, meanwhile, was being unhelpful, as usual panicking and staring at nothing whilst gripping his helmet.

 _Useless nerd._ He shot two more Vex, and then pumped the Heart full of lead. Suddenly, Martin gasped.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, he ran out into the open.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Uldren exclaimed as he waved his arms around as if to catch the Minotaur's attention, though he was probably trying to catch Silverhawk's.

"Silverhawk! Lead it over here! Try to keep it in _this_ spot!" he called. The Huntress seemed to notice this, and suddenly zipped towards the Heart. With a yelp, Martin ran back to Uldren. More Vex materialized in the central area.

"Uldren, there's too many of those little guys. Can you distract them while I do my thing?" the young Warlock asked.

"Is 'your thing' incredibly unhelpful?" Uldren asked rudely, one eyebrow raised.

"No; it's going to kill the Heart. Just... give them a target while I work, or something; try to keep them off of Heather, she needs to keep the Minotaur in that specific spot." he told the Prince before, without another word, running around back behind the wall towards the ramp that lead to the top of it.

Uldren groaned. _I swear, if these idiots get me killed or thrown off a high height again..._ He shot at one of the Vex. Martin was right, there were too many, and some of them were beginning to focus on Silverhawk, though she was too fast for them to shoot, and the Minotaur accidently squished two of its own comrades in a futile attempt to get at her. How long could she use her light powers for?

 _A target, huh?_ He let loose an angry sigh. _I'm going to regret this, aren't I?_

He jumped out of cover, waving his arms around madly.

"Look at me, I'm a target!" he yelled at them challengingly. _That_ got their attention pretty quick. He ran for the other side of the cover, and he could almost feel the heat from their guns on his back as he ran.

Silverhawk was in position. _Whatever you're going to do, idiot number two, do it now!_

A sharp pain lanced through his right leg, and he stumbled, falling quickly and painfully to his side, his chin striking the stone as he landed. _Thrall spit!_

The Vex would make short work of him now, that was for sure. Suddenly, there was something dark purple and scarlet and every color at the same time, flying through the air, jumping off of the top of the wall towards the Minotaur. He thought he heard Silverhawk yell something.

"Make it rain, Martin!" it sounded like. The scarlet thing, most likely the Warlock, landed in the Minotaur, which reflexively threw him off... towards the Heart. Martin's arm drew back, as if to punch the thing, and then Uldren realized what the every-colored thing in his fist was. He'd seen it before, during the quest for the cure.

 _Void light!_ Martin's fist flew out, and the void-made bomb with it, the ball of energy flying straight into the Heart. Martin hit the ground with a cry of pain as the void ripped through the Darkness, which, in turn, let out a piercing shriek that made Uldren curl up and cover his ears in vain. _THRALL SPIT AND SPACE URCHINS AND CABAL ARMPITS!_

Through blurred vison he made out the form of the Heart breaking up, the Vex Minotaur collapsing in on itself, and, at last, a flash of sickening light, blackness flying everywhere, and his senses left him entirely.

* * *

 **Oh my gosh! Next chapter is the last one! Well, then there's the epilogue after that. It's a really cool epilogue; all mysterious and evoking and all that nonsense. Leave you drooling for the next installment.**

 **Order and Chaos: Don't worry; you will know the Onion soon enough. Amberstar of Thunderclan and I are roommates, so, naturally, she sees and hears all my ideas long before you guys do; sometimes before they're on paper, or even official yet! So we've got a lot of inside jokes about certain characters that haven't been written yet. True, this fic may have more reviews; but only because I'm more well known than when I posted Fever. I have a few more loyal followers. Popularity of a fic is generally judged, in my opinion, by how many favorites and follows that fic has; not reviews. And on word, Heartbusters is, total, roughly a little over half as long as Fever. I'm hoping to make Wolfsbane a little longer. I think, all in all, 15 Seconds will be the overall longest story of this series, depending on how much happens in Twilight.**

 **Matteoarts: Well, you already listened to me squeal and gush in PM about how honored I was you read this so... I'll just squeal again and hope you leave another one.**

 **Fierywarlock: Thanks, I really appreciate it. Especially the no rants part; I deal enough with the "Catholics are evil, intolerant people" at school. No one really gives a damn about how we 'feel', so we never ask in public, but here on the internet there's no one to glare at me. So thanks for understanding. ^^**

 **Guest: I kind of did away with glide and double jump and stuff like that. For those of you who are confused and wondering about the mechanics I've changed and taken away in this series, I'll put a list at the bottom of the first chapter of Wolfsbane.**

 **MaybeALittleBroken: Glad I could be of service to you! I knew you'd appreciate the reference. Shamefully, between fanfict, RoI, and NCIS without Tony, I've been unable to/forgotten completely about AoS. I knew I'd promised myself I'd write an Update for All The Strange, Strange Creatures to celebrate it and RoI, but I just kind of... well, I think I'm taking a breather from Marvel, actually. Because if I get onto any other fandoms, I'll lose my fire for this one, and then you guys'll swear vengeance of a thousand suns when I update again for the first time in over a year, sooo... yeah.**

 **Sovietshadow: Yup, LoL. Amberstar and I use "galactic losers" a lot around the house, so I added it in here just for kicks. Oh, in case you didn't know, Amberstar updated Siblings again.**

 **Speaking of Amberstar of Thunderclan, to those of you who also delved deep into her rather successful _Twelve Days of RoI_ , she's posted a one-shot series about the Iron Lords, and an AU where the Traveler never visited the Fallen. So, if you liked Amber's funny little one-shots(the one at the end with the Iron Lords was my favorite, GheleonxSkorri 4 life), go check out her cheeky new little fics before she crawls back into the shadows again. Really funny and interesting what she's doing with Uldren in the Au Fallen one; it's hilarious. His personality is more akined to the "Crow" we were promised in early Destiny concept.**

 ***Sigh* a shamefully short chapter, I'm afraid. In fact, the next chapter is short as well, and fairly fast-paced in the end events. The epilogue is barely 1,000 words... but it will probably be the juiciest thing you've ever read, in the context of plot in this story. For the epilogue is where the original plot _really_ kicks off. Interesting thing about Wolfsbane; it's not an Uldren fic. Or a Silverhawk fic. It's a "get to know some other people" and "develop Variks and Martin's friendship" and "introduce these guys and explore the Reef a bit more" fic. It's already started, and I'm really enjoying writing about Variks. Get ready for some metaphorical confusions and existential crisis! LoL, and Martenj. **

**Some REALLY hilarious Martenj moments are coming in Wolfsbane. I was going to update tomorrow, but I'm in a good mood, because I got the new Wings of Fire: Legends book yesterday, and it is EVERY BIT AS GLORIOUS AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

 **Next Time: The Reef gang beat a hasty retreat, and Martin embarks on an *in epic movie trailer voice*EPIC QUEST to *trailer voice*SAVE THE WORLD.**

 **Cheers!^^**


	11. Leave It All Behind You

**Step 11: Leave It All Behind You**

 ** _"My_** **official** ** _designation is Ghost 33056, but my Guardian just calls me Padfoot. Despite the fact she was kicked by a Cabal the other day and should be_** **resting her shoulder** ** _-ahem, Sierra, stop practicing with your knife-, we're heading to the Reef early to help with the Skolas problem. We're to enter discretely, so as not to alert the Fallen that live there. According to her, the earlier we go, the quicker we can leave when they find out about her so-called 'disability'. Don't give me that look, young lady! You're a pessimist and you know it!"_** **\- Ghost Des.33056 personal log, approximately three weeks after the Della Tay incident.**

* * *

It was like the same sensation he'd felt when stepping through the Gate. But this was slightly different. Not only were they displaced in regards to what dimension they were in… they were suddenly someplace else! _What the void?!_

Ethan stood up, feeling sick, as he suddenly found himself out on a stair-like cliff. Down below was a platform with a half-broken Vex Gate at one end. Black ash rained from the sky, and sat in large piles all along the ground on the platform. Alfie gasped with shock, and the Queen jerked awake, looking around wildly.

The sky seemed to be wizzing past before slowing down, turning the reddish color of Mars' atmosphere. No longer was it laced with eirry light, but the bright, shining light of the sun. The suffocating Darkness was replaced with stiffling desert heat, warm and welcome in place of the cold and dark of the Vex home realm.

Suddenly, it occurred to Ethan where they might be, and his eyes scanned the platform tensely. _Please don't let them be dead, please don't let them have fallen…_

Suddenly, a pile near the broken gate stirred, and an ash-covered head popped out, coughing. He caught a glint of scarlet, and saw that they were wearing glasses. _Martin._ Loud coughing from somewhere along the left side of the platform. Coughing, mixed with _a lot_ of swearing. _Definitely the Prince._

Suddenly, a fedora-donning Huntress bounded into sight towards Martin, confirming that Silverhawk, as well, was okay. The Prince limped into view from the left, he, too, covered in black soot, and glaring venomously at everything.

"Dude that was totally blazing!" Silverhawk screamed, skidding to a halt beside Martin on her knees, and hugging him. "Blazing! Frabjous! Awesome! TOTALLY THE MOST EPIC THING YOU'VE EVER DONE EVER!"

Beside him, the Queen staggered to her feet.

"Hey!" Ethan yelled down at them. All three heads turned in their direction. "Anyone want to explain the sudden teleportation?!"

"Well, it probably has something to do with the fact the Garden is condensed within normal space/time; where you're at in the Garden isn't where you're at in the – you know what, never mind, I'm losing you. I'll just write it up the Vanguard report." Martin yelled up at them from beside Silverhawk.

Ethan chuckled. _Warlocks._

* * *

The stupid black sand was everywhere and Uldren _hated_ it. He hated it with a passion. The slap rifle blast that had grazed his leg stung horribly, and that screeching the Heart had done had renewed his headache with a vengeance.

Silverhawk attempted to pull Martin to his feet after the Warlock's attempt to explain dimensional space/time to Ethan, but the young Guardian let out a pained yelp as she did so.

"Leg! Leg! Watch the leg!" he yelped, lifting his left leg in an attempt to keep the weight off of it. He ended up leaning on Silverhawk for support, which was almost comical, considering Martin was so much taller than she was. "I just had to say 'sprain', didn't I? It's like I cursed myself or something!"

"Well, what did you expect, getting thrown by a Minotaur? Reckless Warlock." Silverhawk huffed.

"Worrisome Hunter." He countered. Silverhawk grinned broadly at Uldren.

"You know, we make an awesome team! That's two problems the three of us have bagged together! Fireteam Dysfunctional 2, Darkness 0." She chirped braggingly.

"Get this through your thick little idiot skull; there is no 'we'. I _hate_ you, unless I haven't made it clear enough by now." He snarled. He was so _through_ with this woman. "This was shear convenience, _Subject Zero_ , and if you dare show your face to me again after this, I _will_ pull the trigger."

Cruel satisfaction shot through him when their expressions dropped at the name he called her.

"If you excuse me, I have an assassin to kill." He spat, turning away from them, ignoring the pain in his leg. If he was fast enough, he might still be able to catch Tay—

Mara stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. She'd climbed down the cliff somehow, while he was snarling at the idiots. How much had she heard?

"You will _not_ go after Della Tay." This was not an order. It was law. Her eyes were tired, and they flickered towards his wounds briefly before meeting his gaze again. "We are returning to the Reef. You will have yourself tended to. And _then_ we will address the problem further."

He clenched his fists. Tay was _so_ close. She'd gone a step too far when she killed their mother. And there was always a part of him that thought her responsible for the death of his father. This… what she'd done this time went _beyond_ everything, all of that. She'd tried to take his _sister_ ; the only family he had left. His worst nightmare was being put on the throne, because that would mean she was dead. He could watch the whole Reef destroyed, every solder under his command killed, he could watch his home burn, but he _could not_ lose Mara.

 _This could be my only chance…_ This could be the day he claimed revenge. But the look in Mara's eyes was adamant. He _would_ obey.

"Fine." He spat. But if they were to return home without killing Tay, he might as well stay by her side the whole time; _no way_ was he leaving her alone after this. Della Tay always finished her bounties. Always.

Mara looked over his shoulder at the Martin and Silverhawk.

"Should you need tending, our doctors may be able to help you." She offered. He seriously hoped they declined.

"With all do respect, your genetics are very different from ours; your doctors may not have what they need to properly treat humans." Martin said. "The Tower will take care of us; Earth's closer anyway."

"Very well." The Queen relented, though her gaze lingered on his leg. Above them, in the red sky of mars, the sound of a ship breaking atmosphere boomed through the air. Uldren reached to his belt, pulling out a Crow beacon, and activated it. It was only a few minutes of awkward silence before the sight of an Awoken Assault ship greeted them; a rather familiar one, at that. And the Awoken extracted the Royal family swiftly, not daring to linger where Tay's people could be so close by.

 _The_ Cirrus _?_ Wait… hadn't that ship been at the Royal docks? How had Petra gotten it out?

It lowered itself near the platform, and the ramp descended. Several Reef soldiers stormed out, Petra Venj at their head. Upon spotting Uldren, she ran forwards, yelling for her people to secure the area.

"How did you get through the barrier?" he asked as she approached, yelling over the wind from the _Cirrus_ 's engines.

"We used the brute force method." She told him. _Aka, she blew it up._ He read between the lines. No matter; the doors could be repaired. You had to give her credit for loyalty. Her one eye looked him and the Queen over.

"Tay was wounded, we managed to get out of the Black Garden; you can read in my report Venj. Set the course for home, keep an eye on the radars in case Tay decides to come after us." He told her. She nodded, and then looked at Silverhawk and Martin, and then at the Price twins, still on the cliffs. She regarded Martin.

"What happened to your face?" she yelled. He started turning a bit of a rosy color.

"Velociraptors." He said. At her raised eyebrow, the Queen spoke up.

"I do believe I will be adding information to that aforementioned report, Venj." She informed her.

"Do the Guardians need medical assistance? It looks like you've taken some heavy hits." Petra, after acknowledging the Queen asked, directing her gaze at Martin once more, her eye lingering on his bad leg.

"The Tower doctors will look us over!" Silverhawk told her, grinning. As she spoke, a roar from above heralded the arrival of the _Wibbly-Wobbly_. "We were totally blazing, by the way; you just missed it! Martin blew a thing up, and I was running circles around another thing, and then Uldren was doing a thing, too, but I didn't exactly see it but I'm sure it was blazing as well."

"Okay." Petra relented, still looking skeptical. Raising her voice, she addressed the Reef warriors she'd brought with her. "Let the Guardians clear out, sweep the area for any lingering threats, return to the _Cirrus_ and prep the Galiots for fighter escort. Move!"

Uldren, supporting his sister and still ignoring the sting from his wounds, followed Petra aboard the _Cirrus_ , not sparing a glance at the Guardians, though Mara nodded towards them in acknowledgment.

"You have my thanks, as do the twins. Should your travels take you to the Reef, know that you are welcome." She told them as they passed. Uldren didn't notice the wide, green, bespectacled eyes following him up the ramp, studying him, evaluating him. He didn't know that Martin Anton was currently trying to think of a way to get Uldren Sov to spill the beans on his source… because only Martin Anton had ever been told what Silverhawk had been called by Certech.

She had told him, one terrible night. Him, and only him. Uldren Sov had a source that he _needed_.

Not that the Prince knew this. All he knew was that his sister was at his side again; she was _safe_ , for now. They were going home. Maybe he would sleep, or maybe the doctors would have to inject him with a sedative to get him to rest. His grip on her tightened. _Nobody_ would take her away from him.

 _I swear it by our parent's blood._

* * *

Three Weeks Later…

Martin took the binoculars from Silverhawk in exasperation, rolling his eyes as he did so. He was really just tired of listening to her insist that he watch these 'looser Fallen bickering like an old married couple'.

He peered at them, zooming in, while Silverhawk added words to their conversation.

"'But Daniel, you said you loved me!'"

"'How could I love a beast like you? You never shave your armpits! You smell like rotten mayonnaise that's been left in the sun!'"

"'But, I thought you liked my perfume!'"

"'Perfume!?'"

Martin was barely able to control his giggles, trying to keep the binoculars steady. Suddenly, his eyes caught something branded onto the shoulder pad of one of the Fallen; a Vandal, who was arguing with a Baron. Both of them were from the re-made House of Wolves… or so it appeared at first.

He sucked in a sharp gasp of air. _It—it can't be!_ He clapped a free, gloved hand over Silverhawk's mouth.

"Silverhawk, shush!" he hissed. He zoomed in farther. _It is!_ Horror slammed into him at every angle. He looked up at his best friend, terror pounding through him.

"Silverhawk, that Vandal is wearing the Awoken Royal Crest! He's one of the Queen's personal Guards!" it had been a little over three weeks since their plunge into the Black Garden, which had nearly ended in disaster when they discovered that the Queen of the Awoken had been thrown into the Garden by the notorious assassin, Della Tay.

Him and Silverhawk had been in the Garden on a mission to kill its Heart. Though they didn't know it at the time, Della Tay had thrown a wrench in their plans; that wrench being the Queen of the Reef, whom Tay had kidnapped, according to sources, earlier that morning. Meanwhile, her brother, Prince Uldren Sov, had followed after Tay with a vengeance, and had met up with two other Guardians, the Prince brothers, who were most famous for killing Crota.

One brother had been wounded in the attack, the other guarding him and the Queen while Martin, Silverhawk, and, later, Uldren, attacked and killed the Heart. The Awoken arrived soon after, with Petra Venj at their head, hastily evacuating the royal siblings with extreme prejudice.

Martin had treated the wounded Alfie Price on board the Wibbly-Wobbly, and the Hunter had been treated further by the head Tower Doctor, Terra-27. His own leg and face wounds had long since healed, as had Silverhawk's shoulder, and after being confined to the Tower infirmary for so long, and enduring high praise and celebrations, they had both decided a sortie into the wilds of Venus was in order. Of course, they had run into something-or rather, someone-rather strange while they were in the hangar, getting ready to leave…

 _"_ _So, then I told Andal, I said; 'kid, if you put whip cream into your father's boots, you'll be my hero. And if he does find out', I told him, ' I'll take credit. And there'll be pie in it for you if you do it.' So that's how I got revenge on Tevis for dyeing my cloak pink." Silverhawk was saying. Martin rolled his eyes, and then froze, catching sight of someone on the launch deck. He grabbed Silverhawk's shoulder. The height looked the same, the outline of their shape… could it be?_

 _"_ _Silverhawk." He alerted her, pointing towards the figure. She looked, and grinned._

 _"_ _Is that who I think it is?" she asked out loud._

 _"_ _Let's go check." He said. He would be lying if he said this strange woman didn't unnerve him. On Venus, she'd been speaking to both of them, but her gaze had been locked on him the whole time, as if trying to peel back the layers of his mind with the power of mere eyesight._

 _They descended the stairs. It was definitely her, there was no mistaking it now. Why didn't anybody else see her? Silverhawk winked at Martin, and stalked forwards with an exaggerated "I am sneaking" motion. However, the stranger turned her head, looking at the Huntress, before she could execute her plan._

 _"_ _What are you doing?" she asked in her English lilt._

 _"_ _Sneaking." Silverhawk responded in a perfect impression of Sméagol. Martin came up next to her, rolling his eyes. The stranger was roughly seven feet, and eight inches from them now._

 _"_ _What are_ you _doing?" Martin inquired, pointing a little._

 _She looked back at the Traveler, hanging silently over the City. It was brighter than normal… or maybe it was normal for the first time in centuries. It certainly looked different than it had when Martin was growing up. Aside from that, the air felt… warmer, somehow. Like something had gone right._

 _And something had. The Traveler was still here; they would endure. Survive. Perhaps, someday, though perhaps not in Martin's lifetime or many a century, they would thrive._

 _"_ _You stopped one part of the story, Guardians. Started a new chapter." The stranger said, walking forwards a little towards the edge. "This isn't the end. More will come, wave by wave, crashing against the City's Light. Even the strongest cliff will sometimes crumble, wear with age as the water presses on. What matters, is how the raven flies when the time comes, what it swipes its talons at."_

 _Martin and Silverhawk shared a confused look._ Raven? What do birds have to do with anything? _Perhaps it was some kind of metaphor, or riddle; a puzzle for him to solve later._

 _"_ _What do ravens have to do with the City?" Silverhawk asked confusedly. The stranger looked at her._

 _"_ _More than you know. More than your meant to know, right now." Her gaze turned to Martin, piercing him. "You're strange."_

 _"_ _I'd say the same thing about you." Martin replied, shifting his weight off his bad leg, which still got occasional pains in it, uneasily._

 _"_ _You know more than you think, but you never dare to look." She pondered, almost to herself. "I suppose the broken compass will guide you when you need it the most."_

 _Martin's hand shot to his belt, to the small pouch near his father's knife._ How does she know about that!? _There were special compasses, made and carried usually by Hunters, that always pointed towards the Traveler. Martin had obtained one from his father, moments before his death—_

 _Smooth glass in his palm, smoke choking the air, voice calling his name. He forced the memories back._

 _"_ _Wha-what do you mean by that? How do you know my compass is broken!?" he demanded, a thorn of fear in his spine._

 _"_ _I know a lot of things that shouldn't be known. Like how mountains can fall. How a crow's wings can be broken. How living fire can bring life and death." She told them, turning towards the edge. "There is another wave coming. There is always another wave coming, another part of the story. The end of one chapter marks the start of another. An end, starts a beginning. I wish I had an end."_

 _With that, she walked off the edge, evaporating like smoke in mirrors. Martin shuttered. What could it mean?_

 _"_ _OH, THANK YOU FOR BEHING SO CRYPTIC AND HELPFUL! DON'T BE A STRANGER!" Silverhawk yelled._

That aside, Silverhawk's wild-longing had to be satiated, and Martin just wanted to escape the impressed looks people got whenever they saw him. Nobody had ever thought he was all that extraordinary before. The other Warlocks always said he was too much like a Hunter, and most Hunter's said he was too much a Warlock. His biggest problem was going off into scientific rants whenever things got awkward, which only furthered his social problems.

So far, Variks, a Fallen from the Reef, was the only one who hadn't minded his rants; actually stopped him from leaving after cutting himself off from a long rant about an old experiment gone wrong, actually asked him to tell him more about it. He wondered if Variks was in on this Wolf plan.

 _No, he betrayed Skolas._ If anything, Variks would be in an incredible amount of danger. He hated the Wolves, and was a prime source of Fallen intelligence. He would be a prime target.

"We have to warn the Reef!" he told her, putting the binoculars down. Petra Venj was a Reef War hero... she'd taken down the Silent Fang. Terrible images flashed through his head. _They'll go after her for sure!_

"Right!" Silverhawk agreed, seeming gung-ho, hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation. "You go warn the Reef, I'll follow the big guy and see where the bigger guys are, and maybe I'll set Tevis loose on em! Cayde _did_ say he was here on Venus somewhere!"

"Silverhawk, please, _please_ don't do anything crazy!" he begged. "You've heard the rumors about Skolas coming back, don't try to take on a Kell, _please_!"

"Pft, take on a Kell? Dude, I'd only go after a Kell if I was really, _really_ angry." she reassured him with the usual air of Hunter cockiness. He could feel his hands shaking. He didn't want to leave her to her own devices. Aside from being her best friend and brother, he was Silverhawk's voice of reason. How many times, over the years, had he talked her out of doing something that was borderline suicidal?

He stood up, shaking slightly. "P-please, Heather. D-d-don't do anything you know I would disapprove o-of. Don't g-get yourself killed, a-a-alright?"

"Roger that, sir!" she gave him a tiny solute, sticking her tongue out as she did so. Hesitating, Martin Peregrine Anton turned and ran back towards where they had landed their ships. Leaves lashed at his robes, his face. Water splashed onto him, obscuring his vison when it collected in droplets on his glasses.

 _Have to warn them._ He didn't want Petra or Variks to die. He might actually be able to summon up a little bit of sadness if Uldren was killed, and not just because the Prince seemed to have another piece to the puzzle of a cure to Certech's monstrous experiments. And the Queen had seemed fairly nice in the Garden, a bit of a change from the benevolent lady staring him down in the Awoken palace. Not to mention, her death would spark chaos; he could only imagine what things in the Reef had been like when she was taken by Tay.

He was suddenly assaulted by the image of Petra Venj getting skewered by one of the Fallen guards, and he tripped, barely recovering himself in time, his heart pounding in his chest, screaming out against the gruesome thought.

 _Have to warn them._ He thought again. _I have to stop them being killed!_

And if they didn't believe him? Well, Martin Anton was a terrible fighter. He didn't think he was particularly brave; the whole Minotaur thing had been sort of 'spur of the moment', and he's been more focused on scientific execution than the physical danger part of his plan, right up until he realized he was falling, and the tendons in his knee had made an unhealthy popping sound as he hit the ground.

The only things he was any good at was getting in the way, thinking, solving puzzles, and keeping Silverhawk from doing something crazy. But if the Reef didn't believe him, there was another thing Martin Anton was good at, aside from giving convincing evidence.

Sounding scared.

* * *

 **Whew, exciting weekend, eh? I was going to post on Saturday, but that horrible, stupid storm kept making the lights flicker, and killing my internet, and doing all kinds of horrible things and being generally creepy. Glad it's over now(mostly). I was going to make this chapter longer, I swear, but I just kind of... bleh. I hope you guys enjoyed that first glimpse at Padfoot; I'm writing Wolfsbane right now, and I'm pouring my heart into the little guy. I think you guys are totally going to love him; he's just precious. Amberstar made "awwwww" sounds when she read him, so you know he's good.**

 **Order and Chaos: Actually, remember when I mentioned in chapter nine, they were fighting the second Progeny when Uldren arrived. The third one died when the Heart blew up.**

 **UlktamateGaming: Hold on-*checks Fever reviews* Dang, you haven't reviewed this series since, like, chapter one of Fever! Glad to have you back with us, sir.**

 **alienraptor: I don't really do legacy crucible much.**

 **Matteoarts: Hehe, I love writing them. That line at the beginning was actually a reference to N.C.I.S., when one of the characters kicks a malfunctioning printer and tells it to die.**

 **Wow, only four reviews. Actually, it's not surprising; the storms/hurricanes everywhere is getting recently was probably fussing up everyone's internet. Anyway, hope to see a lot of reviews before I post the epilogue. Aka, the juiciest epilogue you have ever read. I really can't wait to kick it off; I've had it written up for weeks, and I can't wait to see you guys' reaction to it. It's going to be great, it's going to start everything, it's going to be frabjous; just you see.**

 **And here we have Martin going into hero mode again. Next stop for him, is Wolfsbane!**

 **Next Time: Fire is coming. There's a storm on the horizon...**

 **Cheers!^^**


	12. Twilight Rising

**Step ?: Twilight Rising**

 ** _"Uldren, if you are hearing this... then you are now the last. You will soon find a Ghost in your charge; he is not what he seems. Hide him. Keep him safe. From now on... you are the keys. The keys to stopping whatever dark forces are at play in the City. Keep yourself safe, my son." - Avar Sov, Crow data bank, PHANTOM FOXTROT INITIATIVE. Error; file not found._**

* * *

The figure had spent the night in the old english cottage only once; last night. But yet she sat at the table, having rolled an old boulder in as a seat, eating a hasty omelet for breakfast as if she had lived in the ancient building her whole life. She watched silently, chewing, as her Ghost displayed the news feed from the City.

 **"...as of now, the Queen has been declared safe, much to the relief of the Awoken, and a crisis has been averted thanks to the actions of four Guardians and Prince Uldren Sov. Reports from the Reef confirm the Queen was injured during the encounter, but should make a hasty recovery, as should the Guardians who were also wounded in the assault. We have yet to receive official word about Prince Uldren's status, but eyewitness accounts say that he appeared relatively unharmed upon arrival at the Vestian Outpost. Meanwhile, the City celebrates as-"**

The Ghost cut the feed as his Guardian made a cutting motion with her hand. She'd heard all she needed to know. She took another bite of her breakfast, savoring the flavor. She'd found some wild herbs to mix in with it, and this was the closest to a banquet meal taste she had had in months.

"Based on past observations of your behavior, I have come to the conclusion that you will attempt to preform some kind of action in regards to the danger the Royal family was placed in." the Ghost commented without emotion. She looked up at him. "I have not been a real Ghost for many years, but I can still say that I know you well."

"Then you know what I am going to do next." it wasn't a question or a statement.

"The extensive passage of time since Avar Sov's death would and should render any contracts with him to be null and void." This was a warning.

"A promise is a promise. No matter how much time may pass." she informed him.

"You do not hold your oldest oath in these same regards." had he still proper emotions, this would have sounded patronizing.

"My oldest oath was made with a liar." she reminded him. He'd claimed to love her. Her trust in humanity, in existence, had been shattered. There was only her Ghost, and herself. And he had not been a Ghost for a long time.

"Then why risk exposure? Avar Sov warned you to stay hidden, and remember what happened last time you let yourself be seen? You were betrayed. Had you listened to Avar's warning, it may not have happened. I must, as priority, urge you to not take action based on a promise that now means nothing."

"Avar's son will hunt Della Tay to the edge of oblivion if need be. Tay has already tried to take Avar's daughter, and the Prince has insulted the assassin in the worst way possible, if your information is correct. He has taken her eye; given her a scar. Della will come after him. Sooner or later. Or perhaps she will let him chase her. This cannot be allowed."

"So your solution is to kill Della Tay?"

"You would think this unwise?"

Silence. The Ghost's shell twisted, eye staring as he did the calculations.

"Your chances of killing Della Tay, and her crew, are 50%, depending on how many you have to kill to get to her. It would be deemed illogical to take this course of action on a half chance."

"I was not planning on it. I promised not to let... _them_ kill his children. I will kill them myself if it means sparing them fate at the hands of our enemy. I promised not to let _them_ harm Uldren and Mara; I never promised not to take up blade against his offspring."

Silence again.

"Statistically, should you kill the Queen, Prince Uldren would switch his priorities to hunting you rather than Tay, with extreme prejudice. It would, to an extent, fulfill your goal of protecting them. It would stop him digging."

She stood up, stretching, considering this option. Were he alive, Avar would fight tooth and claw against this idea; even kill her to protect even one of his children. Not that he could ever have had any hope of even scraping her skin with a knife-tip.

"No. It would make more sense to kill Uldren." she said after a while. "His sister wears the crown; he does not. She is more important than him. I cannot kill Mara Sov. It isn't too late for her to marry, heirs would not be a problem, unless she makes it one."

"So you shall kill Uldren Sov, son of Avar Sov, and cause the Queen to hunt you rather then Tay? Despite the protocols Avar had put in place?"

Silence once more. Outside, a crow called, as if it knew the leader of a group named after it was being threatened. The woman shut her eyes. Strained light filtered in, landing on her smooth face, trying to reveal what could not be seen, and failing.

"If it comes to that... yes, I will. If there is no other discernable way to save both of them." she confirmed. The Ghost's shell twitched and twisted with a whir.

"So be it, Lyse."

The woman put her helmet on, and walked towards the door. As she left, her hand brushed the doorframe, and her light set it on fire. She sent her fire all throughout the house, burning the plate that had held her breakfast, erasing all signs of her presence in the area, every iota of DNA. Her Ghost fused into her helmet. She pulled back brambles to reveal the Sparrow she had hidden.

She set that on fire, too, and walked away.

 _"So be it."_

* * *

 **And here we have the real kickoff to the original plot, with the mysterious Lyse. In my head, "little Black Submarine" by black keys(or something like that) was playing in the background of this scene. Seriously, she's an enigma even to me; it took me months to figure out just who the heck she is, but don't worry; I know the whole plot now.**

 **Now that she's here, I guess I ought to explain the 'Onion' thing you've probably been seeing. So, I was trying to figure out who the heck she was one day, and Amberstar was helping me. Then for some mysterious reason, we turned to Shrek references. And then Amber theorized that Lyse was an onion, because she has layers. This soon turned into Amber drawing a Warlock with an onion for head, and then a taken version of it. We've got a Taken Onion picture hanging form the wall in a way that it's the first thing a person sees when they walk through the door. And when I finalized her story and personality, it only escalated.**

 **Lyse has layers, and she makes people cry, and she smells a bit when you leave too long out in the sun. Therefore, her secret identity is an onion. I'm thinking of making a crack version of a later scene where she's revealed to be a literal onion.**

 **So there's where the 'Lyse is an Onion' thing came from, just so you all know. *Warlocks are like onions! We have, L-A-Y-E-R-S***

 **Oh, and just so you all know, her name is pronounced "lies".**

 **Wow, these last few weeks have been really short of reviews! Is it a glitch? A zombie uprising? The storms? Something I said in an author's note? I seriously don't know. Even MaybeALittleBroken appears to have gone missing(maybe I scared her off with killing Brask?)! Anyway, here are the replies to the reviews that DID come.**

 **Order and Chaos: Nah, Lol. Sierra's not going to lose any arms any time soon. Her Ghost would be looking out for her if the Fallen tried anything, anyway(he's a violent little guy sometimes). Sadly, I won't be continuing into Rise of Iron with this series. I gave it some thought, and due to events in The Taken King fic I plan for happening, an RoI continuation would be like milking it. Like when a movie series has gone past it's prime, but they keep making new ones anyway to try and save it but they just get worse and worse. Like with Ice Age. That was good up until three, which was decent. Four was... kind of lame. Five... it stinks of desperation. I want to end this series at it's prime to maintain it's reputation. I really did consider a Dysfuntional RoI, but if I ever do write it, it will be for personal use; a private story, not something I post. That being said, I won't be skipping to Destiny 2, either. Like I said; I don't want to milk it. Though, I did have an idea for a HoW/RoI mash up. It would work; a lot of Fallen problems, the like. Plus, it will make HoW much more epic and dramatic.**

 **alienraptor: well, I'm glad you still pay enough attention to it to notice this fic! ^^**

 **Guest: Amber and I live off reviews, feedback, the like. Otherwise, our writing fire starts to wither. We love reviewers, because feedback is great. Reviewers are friends; not food! As for HoW, I think there are enough fics out there detailing the campaign, so I'm doing something a little different with Wolfsbane; it's not exactly about finding Skolas, and more about the initial Wolf Uprising in the Reef. In this continuity, the Wolves have been building up again outside the Reef, while the ones inside are clueless... until now, unfortunately. Though we will be getting Minor HoW campaign coverage in the future of 15 Seconds, once Wolfsbane is done I'll be focusing more on wrapping up the Certech plot line and getting the other plot in full spin.**

 ***deep sigh* I finished another fanfiction. My sense of accomplishment is very, very high right now. That's TWO complete installments to this series! With 15 Seconds undergoing constant updates. It's looking like maybe We'll be finishing 15 Seconds sometime next spring. I need to start thinking of what I'm going to do for fever's one year anniversary! Perhaps a missing moment from that fic, a behind-the-scenes thingy that you guys want to see? Tell you all what; go back to re-read Fever, and drop a review there or a Pm letting me know what missing moment you might like to see, and I'll give it some thought.**

 **I WILL be finishing Petra's Face Is Hilarious short story before posting the next installment, to avoid extreme levels of PLOT HOLES! Ah, I think you guys are going to love this next fic; much Martenj, much Variks, and much, much Padfoot. I'm sorry I keep obsessing over a Ghost You haven't met yet in the Authors notes but I just Love the little Guys SO FREAKING MUCH! He's SO ADORABLY RAGE-Y! You know what? It's teaser excerpt time. Presenting, officially;**

 **Wolfsbane! Coming soon to a fanction website near you!**

"Rouge Ghost!? What's all this about a 'rogue' Ghost!?" he bristled furiously. "I'll rogue you!"

Rogers, witheringly, gripped the tiny being in her fist, looking like she might want to sink into the void itself, casually holding him back while he tried to fly at the offending Warlock. Uldren had been slammed by a Ghost before, in the Black Garden; a rather pointy-shelled, sharp-tounged little thing by the name of Bessy.

Surprisingly, it actually hurt a lot. If they flew at you hard enough, it was almost like being shot or hit with a rock. Rogers drew him back("Let me go! Lemme at 'em!") and pulled her cloak around, wrapping him up in it and crossing her arms around him to make sure he didn't escape. If she wasn't embarrassed before, Hunter Rogers was now completely mortified.

He was just as eager to get this debriefing done as she was, so he decided to spare her further shame. After all, Padfoot had disrupted the meeting enough as it was; Uldren was really too much pressed for time to incite a full-blown 'flurry', as it was called when a Ghost started slamming people repetitively. The paperwork involved wasn't worth it, let alone the blow to his dignity.

"Our first priority is locating Skolas exactly." he said, ignoring the muffled ranting that could be heard from Rogers' cloak("I _WILL_ DEFEND MY HONOR!"). "After that, the Silent Fang will have to be targeted. We don't want them here at the Reef trying to get at our commanders; we have enough problems as it is."

 **And then there was Padfoot. Can you see why I love this guy now? 'I'll rouge you!'**

 **That line makes no sense whatsoever, but it's my favorite in Wolfsbane so far, a close second to 'One second thought, it's probably covered in lice.' Don't ask about that one. Let's just say Smelldren was being mean about someone's sandwich.**

 **Whew! It was fun writing this, but in all honesty, I kind of had to drag myself for a great deal of it, so it isn't as good a quality as Fever, I feel like. I was more eager to start work on Wolfsbane, and now that I can work on it, I'm a very happy person. Last questions:**

 ***What was your favorite part in this fic?**

 ***What do _you_ think of Lyse? Hero of villain? Even _I'm_ not too sure...**

 ***What was your favorite interaction, the one that really struck you?**

 ***Are you _hyped_ for Tevis's definite appearance in Wolfsbane?**

 ***What did you think of this installment? Did it live up to _Fever_ 's legacy?**

 **And with that, we'll be having a bit of a wait. Maybe a couple weeks; you'll know it'll be soon when Petra's Face gets updated. I really, really hope this lived up to the expectations I set with Fever! Often I find that the original is always the best, but I hope I somehow managed to do my pilot fic justice!**

 **And while you're all waiting for Wolfsbane to post, I highly sugest you go check out the fics of Matteoarts, Shuriken 16, MaybeALittleBroken, and Jsm. They're really good, especially Matteoarts' long-running series, Guardians Never Die. And Shuriken's fic keeps giving me this 'anime' kind of feel. Jsm somehow managed to hook me to a fic with a 1st-person PoV(which not many people can manage), and MaybeALittleBokren's fic... well, just read it; it's magical. 'Trench coat full of bees'... honestly, the _best_.**

 **Also, if you didn't read Amberstar of Thunderclan's Twelve Days of RoI, I highly suggest it. The countdown may be over, but chapter four is still a must-see. She's also posted two new fics; a one-shot series about the Iron Lords, and an Au where the Traveler never visited the Fallen. Both are super interesting, and She's actually set an update schedule for her pottertrek thingy.**

 **And, with that, for the last time ever on Heartbusters...**

 **Cheers!^^**


End file.
